Staring At The Ceiling
by delzepp
Summary: A little AmiYumi story I wrote back during the summer of 2007, decided to upload it here exactly as it was written, with no changes whatsoever, enjoy! The story is based around the Ami and Yumi cartoon characters, not the actual people.
1. Chapter 1

**Staring At The Ceiling****  
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>Author's Note: The mind can never be fooled by the eyes. If the eyes see something, that alone proves its existence. What does fool the mind, however, is reason.<p>

**Chapter One "Consequences"****  
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>Yumi caught a cold. And what a nasty cold it was! She was forced to spend entire days just lying in her bed. Leaving the tour bus was out of the question. The last concerts in London were chilly and it rained at every single one. This was the result. So they were still in England, Yumi was sick and there was no sign of her getting better. But the one who was affected by this the most was her friend, Ami. She just couldn't stand seeing her like this. "Thank goodness the tour is over, otherwise we would have been forced to cancel it" she thought. "I better go check on her." Since Yumi got sick, Ami took care of her every single day. She was determined to get her friend on her feet again.<p>

Back in her room, Yumi was staring at the ceiling of the tour bus, thinking. "Why did it have to rain? Why? This is what I get for refusing to postpone concerts." Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Yumi tried to raise her head, but she was too sick even for this small effort. "Come in!" The door opened, as Ami walked into the room. "How are you feeling today, Yumi? Is the cold still there?" "No, it's just so much fun to stay in bed all day" Yumi replied with a sarcastic tone, but then started to cough violently. Ami kissed her forehead and held her lips there a little longer. "Oh dear, you still have fever. I think it's worse than before." "Why did I have to get sick? It's summer, for crying out loud. Nobody catches a cold in summertime" she angrily said before starting to cough again. "I could be doing something fun right now, like going to the mall, or riding my scooter, or even writing songs. But no, I have to sit here all day long blowing my nose" she said between coughs. Ami noticed a small tear running down Yumi's cheek. She immediately gave her a big hug. "Don't worry, Yumi, I'm here. And I'll see to it that you get better. Don't be sad. I promise that you'll get better soon." Ami made this promise to her each and every day since she got sick. However, Yumi always found some comfort in that; not that she actually believed her, just that she really appreciated the special attention her friend was giving her. But she was too proud to admit that. "It's time for your medicine, Yumi." She handed her a spoon filled with strange-looking liquid. "Make it all gone." Ami's everlasting happy mood always managed to hide the horrible taste of the medicine. "Ugh, with a taste like this it has to work" Yumi said. "I also brought you some food." "I'm not really hungry right now, Ami." "But you have to eat something, Yumi; you didn't eat anything the whole day" Ami said with an almost begging voice. "Alright, alright, Ami, what's on the menu?" The pink-haired girl smiled, as she left the room and came back holding a tray with a bowl of hot soup. She sat the tray down on her own lap, picking up a spoon. "Thanks, Ami, but you know you didn't have to…" she was silenced by her friend moving a spoonful of soup to her mouth. "Open up for the airplane." Normally, Yumi would never accept this, but her sickness wouldn't even let her feed herself. She had to accept being fed by her best friend.

When she finally finished, Ami put the tray down and gazed in her Yumi's eyes for a moment. "What is it, Ami?" "Oh, nothing; I was just wondering…" "About what?" Yumi asked, but then immediately started to cough again. "Oh, dear, I almost forgot." Ami left the room again and came back with a thermometer. "You know how it works, right Yumi? Just keep it squeezed to your underarm." "I know already, I've been doing it for the last four days, remember?" "In the mean time would you like some music?" Ami asked. "Yeah, sure, check in my CDs on the top shelf." Ami did just that, she started looking through the titles. She knew most of them as she bought them for Yumi, but then she saw… "Led Zeppelin? I didn't know you were a fan." "Oh, that relict? It's been a long time since I bought it" Yumi replied. "I think it's the first CD I ever bought. Didn't really give it a chance, though. Usually I got tired after the first two songs." "Well, you can't reach the stop button now. Do you want to listen to it?" "Why not? I think I can check it out for once." Hearing this, Ami inserted the CD and then left the room. "I'll come back in half an hour, Yumi." "Yeah, yeah, I know." She closed her eyes and just listened to the music, remembering how she first met Ami in Tokyo, a shy and really helpless girl, but a girl who, for no reason, really stuck to her until they became inseparable. In time, she found out that this cherry-eyed girl can really be one true friend, even more than a friend. She found in Ami the sister she never had, someone she could protect. Ami; what would she do without her and her ever-joyful way of being?

"Yumi, I'm back! The thirty minutes are up. Let me see here…104 DEGREES! My word, Yumi! You have gotten worse!" "I knew it, I knew it. I should have canceled those damn concerts" Yumi said furiously, after which started to cough again. Ami hugged her again with love. "Won't you please get better for me, Yumi?" she almost whispered. "It's not like I don't want to…" she angrily said, but immediately stopped as she saw Ami at her shoulder and a soft tear coming down from her eyes followed by another and another. She was worrying for her best friend's health. "Don't worry, Ami, I will get better if that's what you want; I promise" she calmly said, while running her hand through Ami's hair. "Just don't cry…please, stop crying." Ami pulled away slowly, whipping her eyes and trying to relax. "Did you calm down now? Is it ok?" "I'm calm now, Yumi. You still got the fever though. You will have to spend more days in bed. Plus now, I think you need to take your medicine during the night too. I think it would be easier for me to sleep here." Saying this, she went back to her room and took the sheets of her bed. "What are you doing?" Yumi asked. "I will sleep here, on the floor." she answered as she carefully placed the sheets near Yumi's bed. "No, no, no, Ami, that's out of the question. I can't let you sleep on the floor. My bed is big enough, we can both sleep here." "But I don't want you to get uncomfortable because of me" the pink-haired girl softly answered. "Ami, you'll sleep here, with me, in this bed and that's all there is to it. Now put those sheets back." "Ok, Yumi, I'll sleep with you from now on until you get better" she gladly said taking the sheets away. "By the way, how did you like the music?" "I wasn't impressed much. Same old sound throughout the CD. But the fourth track; it's almost like all the other songs, but…it's somehow different; I kinda liked it. Could you play it again?" Ami read the CD play-list. "Stairway To Heaven? You didn't know the track? Yumi, this was a major hit…" "Like I said, I didn't really get into Led Zeppelin" Yumi interrupted her friend "but I like that song. Play it again, would you?" So she did, this time staying to hear the tune herself. Only after it was over, she realized that the tune seemed to bring back memories, blurry memories, some that the girl couldn't really focus on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger"****  
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>That night, Ami set the alarm clock to 5 A.M. "Sorry, Yumi, but I will have to wake you up for your medicine." But Yumi did not hear. She fell asleep faster than Ami could notice. She looked so calm when she was asleep. Ami closed her eyes and remembered the day when she first met Yumi, a girl so different than all the other people; one who was clearly a good shoulder to cry on; one who was a true friend; one who was special. She was everything she wanted in a sister; therefore she truly loved her just like one. She turned off the lights and fell asleep.<p>

Ami was sleeping soundly. She was suddenly awakened by strange noises. She looked around through the dark, with half-closed eyes: it was Yumi. She was saying something unclear in her sleep. "Yumi? Are you ok?" she whispered. "No…no…help…I can't see…HELP! AMI! WHERE ARE YOU? AMI!" "YUMI, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!" Ami shouted shaking the girl who instantly woke up. Yumi started crying holding her friend tightly. "It's alright, Yumi, you were just dreaming, it was just a nightmare, it's all over" Ami said trying to calm her down, although she was shocked by Yumi's tears. "Oh Ami, it was horrible. I couldn't wake up" the purple-haired girl said through tears. "There, there, Yumi, it's over; whatever it was, it wasn't real" her friend softly said. Yumi finally calmed down, her heartbeats starting to slow down to their normal rhythm. Her face was still sweaty and her eyes were still red from crying though. "What was it, Yumi, what did you dream about?" Ami whispered. "I'm so glad it's over. I don't remember much. I can clearly picture you saying that you want to go home; yes, that's right, you begged me to take you home; and then…something happened…because you were gone, I couldn't find you. So I went searching for you. I went searching through a dark forest. I was terrified. And there was something, someone. He was making it, the fear. I don't really know what it was, but it was always behind me. And I didn't know which way to go. I was yelling out for you. I just had to see your face…and then…I guess that's when you woke me up. Thanks." "It's alright. Dreams don't mean a thing. Usually when I have a bad dream, I wake up and concentrate on the things surrounding me in my room; that's how I can clearly make a difference between dream and reality." "You don't understand, Ami, I couldn't wake up, even though I could figure out it was a dream. I just knew that as soon as I woke up, that thing would disappear. Yet, I just had to stay in this nightmare. I thought that if that thing disappeared forever so would you. I just had to find you so I could wake up. I hope to God I never feel that way outside of a dream." "But you're awake now and I'm right here; see? There's nothing to worry about. As I said, there's a clear line between dream and reality, you just have to remember that. Now, let's try to get some sleep before…" but the alarm sounded just as Ami was finishing her sentence. "5 o'clock, Yumi; it's time for your medication." Yumi received a spoonful of disgusting liquid that was supposed to cure her and fell back asleep. The cherry-eyed girl however did not try to go back to sleep immediately, as she wanted to acknowledge what she just witnessed. She looked extremely confused as this was the first time she saw her friend cry in fear. She captured her eyes just in the moment that she woke up from the nightmare. And in them she saw nothing but pure and hopeless fear. It was incredible seeing her now, sleeping so calmly as if nothing had happened. "Just what was that all about? I guess this is what happens when you watch too much TV. But you can always wake up from a nightmare, no matter how scary; why couldn't she?" Ami was pretty confused at this point, but finally agreed that a nightmare is not real. It's just one of those things that have to happen from time to time. She softly laid her head on the pillow and quickly went back to sleep.

That morning, when Ami woke up, Yumi was still sleeping. This was natural, as Ami always woke up before her friend did. Every time, exactly after the morning's first gaze of sunlight, she would just jump out of bed, getting ready for the new day. Unlike her, Yumi was a heavy sleeper; she always liked to take some large amount of time before getting up; also she never liked the sun shining in her face and ruining her dreams, therefore she was always sleeping with the curtains closed. Ami respected this, and closed them before going to bed. Now that she was wide awake, she did not open them, as not to disturb her sleeping friend. Instead, she carefully walked out of the room, washed her face, brushed her teeth and took her morning shower. She then started preparing breakfast. Since she was sick, Yumi never ate breakfast and Ami was beginning to worry about this: "What if the lack of food makes her worse? I guess she won't mind a bowl of cereal." So, she prepared it especially for her, after which she went back in her room. Yumi wasn't up yet, but her eyes were half opened. "Good morning, Yumi! How are you feeling today?" Ami asked opening the curtains to finally let some sunlight in the room. Yumi instantly covered her face with the blanket. "Don't do that, Ami" she said with a sleepy voice, "I want to sleep some more." "But I made you breakfast, Yumi" Ami said while gently removing the blanket of her face and kissing her forehead to see if she still had the fever. "You seem better now. I think your fever faded a bit." "Yeah, I really slept well last night. Surprisingly well." "Maybe after your nightmare, you were more relaxed than before, Yumi." "What nightmare? What are you talking about?" "What do you mean? You were screaming and I woke you up. I calmed you down and then I gave you your medicine. Don't you remember? You cried." "I cried? I don't think so. Are you sure YOU weren't dreaming?" "Come on, Yumi, you must remember… you were running through the dark forest…and that thing…and I disappeared… and that thing was always behind you…does any of this ring the bell?" "Nope! I just remember taking the medicine and then going back to sleep."

"Could I have dreamt it all?" Ami thought as she left the room to bring Yumi's cereal. When she arrived back in the kitchen, she took a tray and placed the bowl on it. Just as she was ready to serve her friend breakfast in bed, she saw Yumi at the kitchen door. "YUMI! You got out of bed!" "I guess so; looks like I'm healing faster than I thought." Ami wondered if there was a connection about last night's nightmare and this. Anyway, Yumi was looking better that she had been in days. She still had a runny nose though


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three "London's Last Sunny Days"****  
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>After a few days, the girl was back to her normal sarcastic and cool self again. The two only had a few more days until the ride back home. And what beautiful London summer days they were! The girls did nothing but enjoy them to the full. They visited every little thing they could, bought tons of souvenirs and even went to some other rock gigs (just for comparison). But the one thing they truly loved doing together was walking through Hyde Park. Every time they arrived there, Ami would just start running in no particular direction, mostly around Yumi. She was the stiff one, so Ami always had to lure her in this game. She ran behind her, gently pushing her to draw her attention. At first Yumi would pretend not to mind, but when she couldn't resist anymore, she would start laughing and chasing her friend, until the two girls would end up lying on the soft grass, faces upwards, gazing at the blue sky, after which Yumi would look at Ami's expression; she was just like a child with her cherry-eyes full of joy and thirst for life. Yumi always knew her to be like that after they became good friends. This reminded her of the joyful times they had at Camp Youwannasushi, all those moments of Ami and herself playing and having fun together. "Those were the days. It seemed like they would never end." She remembered all the promises they made when they were kids, how they swore they would be best friend forever no matter what, how they were sitting on the grass and Yumi was teaching Ami how to play guitar, how they sat next to each other holding hands looking at the camp fire, how they would spend nights watching the sky for falling stars and how Ami would always fall asleep on Yumi's lap, while Yumi was running her hand through her soft pink hair. Those memories were always bringing a smile on Yumi's lips.<p>

They arrived back in the tour bus around sunset after a day filled with fun. As Yumi entered her room, she spotted the Led Zeppelin CD and felt the need to listen to Stairway To Heaven again. So she did. The melody started slow with that already familiar acoustic guitar. Yumi knew the song by now, but realized that she never paid attention to the lyrics, as the melody would always capture her. This time she decided to understand exactly what the song was actually about. The moody voice started singing 'There's a lady who's sure all the glitter is gold and she's buying a stairway to heaven.' Yumi quickly opened the booklet of the CD to follow the lyrics without difficulty. She realized how cleverly the words were written. And especially how well they fitted the mood of the tune; the guitar seemed like the song's second voice, this is how well it was played. Suddenly the drums joined in. 'If there's a bustle in your…'"in your what?" Yumi couldn't follow. She quickly checked the lyrics: hedgerow. "Is that what he said?" The girl turned the song a few seconds back to hear it clearly. 'If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now' "What a weird pronunciation!" Yumi thought. 'It's just the spring clean for the May Queen.' "He was speaking clear before. What's with this sudden change? And what is the May Queen?" the girl couldn't help wondering. 'Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on.' "What a weird way of talking! The guy didn't say 'paths'. I don't know what he said, but he definitely didn't say 'paths'. And that last 'you're on' seemed like a single word. I could pronounce better and I'm not even English." Yumi felt like the song would have been much better had it been sung correctly. 'You're head is humming and it won't go.' "There we go; he's speaking clear now. I wonder why that part was so different." It wasn't long before the guitar solo started. Yumi went nuts. It was the part she loved the most. The other songs had good guitar solos too; but this one was just perfect. As proud as she was about her guitar skills, she had to admit that she couldn't play like that. After a flawlessly executed solo, the words once again burst out 'And as we wind on down the road, our shadows taller than our souls.' But Yumi didn't need the booklet; she was jumping up and down along with the tune, playing air-guitar. The song came to an abrupt halt and the final words faded into the night 'And she's buying a stairway to heaven.' For some reason, Yumi thought that the song would have been greater if it just kept on rocking, fading while the guitar was still played in full power. In fact, this was a technique she often used when recording the band's songs. She didn't like the idea that a track that starts slow and clam should end exactly in that manner. "After all, a song's ending must always be different than its beginning. If a song starts low and afterwards becomes harder and more dynamic, let it be more and more intense until the end" the purple-haired girl said to herself.

Just then, Ami called her. She had a surprise for her. "Tonight, we're going out to eat. How does that sound?" "Ok, I guess." Yumi always wanted to hide her joy in such moments, but she loved spending nights out since she was a kid. Furthermore, Ami knew this. It was her pleasure to surprise Yumi in this way. They went to a restaurant not too fancy and on the way back, they took a walk through the park again. Ami sat on the grass to watch for falling stars, with Yumi next to her. Then, as always, the pink-haired girl laid her head on her friend's lap. "Don't you just love nights like this one, Yumi, nights in which you have nothing to worry about! These are the nights in which dreams become reality." "Whatever you say, Ami" Yumi replied smiling and pretending not to care. She loved to see Ami conquered by the magic splendor of the quiet night. Her cherry-eyes were just glowing with pure joy while gazing at the stars. What a sight! "What are you thinking about, Ami?" the girl asked. "Hush! Don't speak. Just look. If we see a falling star, we can make a wish and it will coma true." "There are lots of stars visible tonight, we might just see one." "Have you ever wondered, Yumi, what is out there? There are so many things we don't know about! Have you ever asked yourself if there is something out there just waiting to be found? Something hidden from out sight, yet so close we can almost touch it?" "I'm not sure what you're talking about." Every time Ami was staring at the stars, she was captured in this mysterious beauty and starting to say strange things. "The stars really are visible tonight. Some might already be there, but we don't see them yet. We are too far away and their light did not reach us. Also, we see a lot of stars, but some might have faded away and died out long ago. But we don't know this yet; we see them like they are there, still existing. How can it be so beautiful? How can something be so perfect, it's almost ironic? This is our world, Yumi, and I'm so glad I live in it. But every once in a while, I wonder how life is out there. As I am looking at this mass of white, who is looking back at me? Where from? And will I ever understand? Will I ever understand how things are in this universe? Something is out there; I can feel it! But why doesn't it show itself; why does it stay hidden?" Ami was talking lower and lower, slower and slower; she was whispering even as Yumi started running her hand slowly through her soft hair. To her, these so-called theories sounded weird, but she was always glad to hear her talk like that, as this announced that her friend was ready to close her eyes and sleep. It was such a warm feeling for her, whenever her friend fell asleep on her lap. She looked up and finally saw a falling star making its way through the endless cosmic field. But Yumi didn't make a wish. What could she really wish for that she didn't already have? The bus was near, so the purple-haired girl carried her sleeping friend all the way to her room, gently placed her on her on her bed, took her shoes off and tucked her without waking her up. She then got back to her own room to get some shut-eye herself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four "I Must Find Out!"****  
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>Ami suddenly woke up. She checked the clock. It was 4 A.M. She was feeling a bit thirsty, so she went to the kitchen for a glass of cold milk. She was on her way back when she heard something; something very, very low. Sleepy as she was, she didn't care much; the girl was just about to close the door to her room, but she heard it again. This time she really wanted to find out what it was. Quiet! It stopped. She didn't want to turn on the lights, as it would have blinded her. Suddenly, the strange noises started again, this time constantly. They were so low that Ami couldn't tell were they were coming from. She went in the hall and looked around without a certain target. She finally figured out the source. The strange noises were coming from Yumi's room. Extremely curious, Ami slowly opened the door. Yumi was whispering something through her sleep. The girl carefully walked over to her friend's bed. She stood there looking at the sleeping girl who was saying something, mostly gibberish. But Ami distinctly heard the word "bull-skin" over and over again. Other than that, she understood nothing. And suddenly… "No…not you…anyone else…I don't want to kill you! AMI!" "YUMI, WAKE UP!" Ami shouted shaking her and waking her up. Yumi did not fully realize she was awake and tried to break away from Ami's embrace. "Yumi, it's me" the girl said while holding her tighter. "Don't be afraid. It was only a dream. You're awake now. It's all gone." Yumi finally saw her friend's face and started to cry on her shoulder, while Ami was hugging her and trying to calm her down. "There, there; it's all over. You're awake now and no one can hurt you." At last, the purple-haired girl ceased her crying and started to take deep breaths to relax. "What's with all these bad dreams, Yumi?" Ami started. "Just what are you watching on TV?" Yumi fully came back to her senses. She was now wide awake. "I barely watched TV these days and you know it." "Well then, why do you have these sleeping troubles?" "I…I just don't know…I…wait! Wait a minute! I think I know what it is. Ami, remember the song on that CD, the one I told you that I liked?" "Stairway To Heaven?" "Exactly. There is something about that song… something I cannot put my finger on. But I know that these nightmares and that song are somehow connected." "How come? It's just a song." "No, it's not" Yumi said with a low voice. "It's something else. Remember how I told you I liked it even though it was the same as all the other songs? There is something in that certain song, something mysterious. Ami, that song has something deep in it. I can't really explain, but, in my dream, I could clearly hear it in my head." "Yumi…you're scaring me" Ami said with a worried voice. "That song…those words…are not what they seem." "Yumi…please stop" Ami said with a shivering voice as a tear came crawling down from her eye. But Yumi wasn't even looking. "Its message…its message is not at all obvious, but that song says something else. It is like it's calling for me. A voice is trying to tell me something. I just have to listen." "No more, Yumi…" "I just have to listen carefully." "Yumi…stop…" "Something is communicating…" "Yumi…" "I must find out!" "STOP IT!" Ami burst into tears. In that moment, Yumi realized that she freaked the girl out. "I'm sorry, Ami, I'm so sorry" Yumi said as she held her shaking friend tight. "I didn't mean to…" Ami was crying in Yumi's embrace and was terrified. Yumi didn't realize it, but, when she told that story, her voice turned from worried into low, seriously frightful, almost devilish. This sudden change, the fact that the lights were still off, the story itself, even the strange look in Yumi's eyes, all these factors scared poor Ami until she couldn't take it. Now, she was trying to calm down in Yumi's arms. "Yumi…" "Yes, Ami?" "May I sleep with you tonight?" "Of course, Ami. Anything you want." "And promise me something." "Anything." "Never play that song again." "But, Ami…" "Please. For me?" "Alright, Ami, I promise I will never play it again."<p>

As soon as Yumi woke up the next day, she went straight to the CD player, put her ultra-headphones on and played Stairway To Heaven. She was using her headphones partly to hear better, partly so Ami, who was preparing breakfast, wouldn't hear her. If she wanted to find out more about the song she had to break the promise she made the night before. Just as she pressed play, she immediately shut it off and practically jumped right back in bed pretending to sleep, as she hears Ami's footsteps and then the door handle. "Yumi, are you awake?" She opened up the curtains to let the sun shine the room up. As always, Yumi covered her face with the blanket. "Come on, Ami, just five more minutes…" "It's a really beautiful day, Yumi; just feel the fresh air." Saying this, Ami opened the window and summer's scent came tumbling inside. "Come, Yumi, I made you breakfast." Saying this, she was gone as quickly as she came in. "I'll never have a chance to listen to that song with Ami around. There must be another way. But I can't think of one on an empty stomach." She got dressed, washed her face, brushed her teeth and joined Ami for a delicious meal. "You know, Ami, I'm really gonna miss London" Yumi said after breakfast. "But I thought you hated London; after all, you got sick because of the bad weather here and we had to postpone the trip back home." "Yeah, I know. But it turned out alright in the end, didn't it? After I got better, I really had a great time here." "Yeah, me too. These were some really nice summer days, weren't they? Tell me, what will you miss the most?" Yumi did not answer. At this point she wanted to change the subject. "By the way, Ami, I'm sorry for last night. I didn't mean to scare you like that." "Yeah, you got me really frightened; but, you know how I am, I get scared out of anything. Don't worry, Yumi, after I got up this morning, I thought things over and I realized I was just plain silly." "So, will you let me listen to Stairway again?" Yumi's face lit up. "I know I promised, but…I wanna find out more about this song." "Well, Yumi, you know a promise is a promise, but it's only a song after all. However, I'll only let you break the promise you made on two conditions. First, no more nightmares! I don't wanna have to wake you up and calm you down again." Ami didn't want to admit it, but she had this inexplicable warm feeling inside when her friend started crying in her arms, when she truly felt that Yumi needed her to feel better, to drive away her fears. Usually she was the one who always found comfort in Yumi's embrace whenever she was sad or worried. Now she understood how Yumi felt when this was happening. "Agreed. And what's the second condition?" "The second condition is…I want to take part in this too" Ami said with a smirk on her face. "What do you mean?" "I want to help you in your research. Anything that you find out about the song, I want to know. I want to solve this thing along side you. Is it a deal?" "Alright, Ami, it's a deal."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five "Nevaeh Ot Yawriats"****  
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>That afternoon, the girls did nothing but listen to the song over and over again. They even wrote down the lyrics from the CD booklet on a different sheet of paper. Yumi thought this was pointless as she already knew the words by heart. She read them again anyway along with Ami, as the song was played for the nth time. The idea of two sides, kept repeating itself so Yumi underlined all the lyrics in question: 'And you know sometimes words have two meanings' and 'Yes there are two paths you can go by' were the easiest ones to find, but she underlined some other lyrics that she thought had a different meaning than the obvious one: 'Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven'; 'There's a feeling I get when I look to the west and my spirit is crying for leaving'; 'And if you listen very hard the tune will come to you at last'. This last one intrigued her the most. "What could it mean?" She turned to Ami, who was looking at a different aspect. "Hey, Yumi, did you notice how the song is structured?" "What do you mean?" "Here, take a look." Ami was referring to the story told by the song. "It starts off with this lady who is in the first two verses. She also appears here in the final one; see? So, normally you would think she is the center of the story, correct? But, look, except for the start and the finish, the song doesn't make any reference to her at all. In this middle part, there is no mentioning of her whatsoever." "I don't understand. Where are you getting at?" "I'm saying that the middle of the song holds a totally different story. The first verse tells us about this lady who turns things to gold, or something, it doesn't matter. She's also present in the second verse. It says that she wants to be sure about some sign." "What's your point, Ami?" "I'm getting to it; so, until now this whole thing was written in the third person. From this point on however, the song changes radically. Try to ignore all these 'And she's buying a stairway to heaven' from between the verses, ok? In the third verse, there is usage of the first person for the first time in the song, the second person is used quite abundantly and that's how it continues. The only time the lady is mentioned again is in the last verse. 'There was a lady we all know'. How do we know her? Because she's in the start of the song." As she finished saying this, Ami's eyes were filled with delight. "Is there a point to this, Ami?" "Yes, there is. Except for the first, second and the last verses, the song addresses to somebody else. And I'm not even sure about the second verse." "What do you mean, Ami? Here she appears again: 'Dear lady, can't you hear the wind blow'. This usage of the second person is because he is talking directly to this lady." "NO IT'S NOT! The song is talking to us. It's telling US something. That explains the second person. This lady whose 'stairway lies on the whispering wind' is not the same character. And now I realize that here in the second verse it does say that 'she wants to be sure' but it follows by 'sometimes words have two meanings'. You underlined it yourself. She's not the lady either. Therefore, the first and last verses, the ones with the lady, are not important, as they do not speak directly to us. What is important is the rest. Understand?" Ami managed to confuse Yumi even more. "You don't get it, Ami. I'm searching for hidden meanings of the song." "And now you know where to look for them; anywhere but in the first and last verses. They are not important." "Oh, brother!"<p>

Outside, dark clouds were gathering over the city. They were visible even though it was night. Not managing to find anything else for the moment, the girls decided to play the song on Yumi's computer. She said that on it they could hear any sound in the melody, no matter how faded. "Why? I thought that you knew the song by heart." "Don't you see, Ami? The song talks about whispers. And here it says that 'A new day will dawn for those who stand long'. The same message is here: 'If you listen very hard, the tune will come to you at last'. All I'm saying is that there might just be something we still haven't heard." "Good idea." They listened to it twice, but with no use. Everything was the same. "This doesn't make sense. What are we doing wrong?" "Maybe there really is no hidden message to the song, Yumi. Cause if it is, I just don't know where else to search for it. Now let's go to bed, shall we? It's already past ten." "No, there has to be something else." "Well, if there really is, why can't we find it?" Ami wondered. "That's what's bothering me too" Yumi answered, "we listened to it over and over again; why can't we find anything? What is it we're not doing right?" The song stopped, so she pressed play one more time. "But I'm not loosing my hope, I'm positive that this song holds something else." "Then, maybe we're not looking at it the way we should." "Wait a minute! AMI, THAT'S RIGHT! You're a genius! We're NOT looking at it the way we should. Don't you get it?" "No, I don't." "All these ideas about words having two meanings and two paths to go by, it all makes sense. Plus, look here: 'There's a feeling I get when I look to the west'. Which way is west on the map?" "Left." "Exactly, left! He is looking from right to left. That's exactly how we're supposed to look." "I still don't understand." "From right to left, Ami; backwards. We have to listen to it backwards." "Now you're just silly. Why would any one listen backwards?" "That's right! No one would." "Yumi, it's completely pointless." "I know, Ami, but, what other choice do we have? If we don't find anything now, I will lose all my hope in this." "There doesn't need to be anything there." But the girl did not listen. She quickly recorded the song on the computer and then played it backwards, keeping her fingers crossed. To Yumi's relief and Ami's total surprise, the first thing they heard when playing backwards was 'Play backwards hear words sung'. "So that's why they didn't end the song with the guitar solo" Yumi exclaimed in enthusiasm. "But, then, why did they…Wait a minute! I GOT IT!" The purple-haired girl deleted the whole backwards song and then recorded only the part with the bad pronunciation. "This has got to be the reason!" She recorded only the verse exactly after the drums joined the song. "It's so logical. Practically, this is where the song really begins. Until this point, it was just an introduction. This has got to be it." The verse was recorded. Now, she just had to play it backwards, like she was told by the song itself. It started, but the girls could hardly understand anything. But it certainly wasn't gibberish. The words were sung in English and they were even intelligible. The girls just needed to pay attention. The backwards ended, so Yumi played it again, but with full volume. This time there wasn't any doubt. The girls heard the message perfectly: 'Here's to my sweet Satan, the one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan; he'll give those with him 666; there was a little tool-shed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.'

(**Note:** The hidden message in the song was indeed discovered in 1982. If you have the track, try it yourselves; just record the first verses when the drums join the song: 'If there's a bustle in your hedgerow…' and so on, just those verses and then play them backwards; you can also do this with the ending of the song to hear 'Play backwards hear words sung'.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six "When Life Really Begins"****  
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>The backwards message ended again, but the two could hardly move. They just sat there looking at the monitor, Yumi on the chair and Ami next to it. Silence conquered the room and the girls were striving to say something; but they just couldn't bear to speak. This quiet atmosphere went on for about three minutes and Ami was the first one to break the silence. "Yumi…how did you know where the message was?" she asked with an extremely low and a bit trembling voice. "I…I don't know." Yumi responded with the same tone. "It just seemed logical. I was concerned about why he was pronouncing the words so badly only in that verse. And when I heard the song telling me to listen backwards…" Silence followed once again, until the second Ami spoke. "Yumi… may I sleep with you tonight?" She was shivering and just really terrified. "Of course you can, Ami." Yumi didn't want to show it, but she was extremely frightened as well. That night the girls had a really hard time sleeping, mostly due to the fact that Ami was afraid to fall asleep and, when she did, she would instantly wake up panic-stricken. Yumi understood her perfectly. Ami was afraid, mainly because the shock of hearing the subliminal message was too much for her. She finally fell asleep around sunrise. Yumi was relieved that her friend could rest at last after a night of fear. She looked so peaceful. Ami was the one single person in the world for whom Yumi cared about. She remembered the first 4th of July Ami and she celebrated in America. What a day for laughter and a night for walking through the park! They wanted to get a good view for when the fireworks show would begin. Yumi never forgot that feeling when she was following after Ami's hand holding tight, as they were both running through the field. They picked a spot on the grass and sat down just when the first firework was blown. Ami didn't let go of Yumi's hand for a second. They were all alone on the grass looking at the big explosions of color and forgetting anything else. What a reason for being alive! It was a night in which true love seemed possible. Yumi never forgot that feeling. Those memories would always touch the girl, helplessly making her smile. Nothing in the whole universe could take her cherry-eyed girl away. Yumi felt Ami's hands embracing her. "Ami?" She was still asleep though. "Yumi" The pink-haired girl was whispering her friend's name. "That's right Ami, I'm here, and I'll always be here for you. Just hang in there. You need to sleep." "Yumi" Ami was dreaming about her best friend. Yumi found some comfort in that, enough to help her sleep.<p>

The next day it severely rained. The girls couldn't step foot out of the tour bus, but, then again, they were to busy to think about that. They checked the Internet to find all the information they could on the song. "Hey, Yumi, look what I found. According to this article, most of the song was written and composed in two different places: at Bron-Yr-Aur, in Wales and around a camp fire at Headley Grange, a former poorhouse in Hampshire. Furthermore, it was recorded right here in London, at the Island Studios. Maybe a tool-shed exists or existed near one of these places." The girls were particularly interested in this single word from the message. The tool-shed was the only trace they had. Trace to what, they didn't know. All they knew was that they found something new in a very old thing. They had two choices: either spread the word, and let everybody know, or not tell anyone. The two almost instantly agreed on the ladder. "But wait, Yumi; we still aren't sure that's the whole message. We never got the chance to play the whole thing backwards." The girls recorded all the lyrics to the song and then played them backwards, but with no result. It wasn't anything intelligible. Beside the part they already knew, there was nothing new. Therefore, the tool-shed was the only thing they could trace. "Yumi, are we really going to start a search for it?" "I don't quite know. We have to go back home soon. Actually, the trip back is tomorrow, right?" "So, we leave it like this?" "What else? It's the only reasonable thing to do. But…I don't know…something is…just…I don't know how to explain." "What is it, Yumi?" "I just feel like I have committed myself to this. Something is demanding me to stay." "Yumi…you don't owe anything to anybody, and you aren't committed to anything. It's your own choice. Why should you feel obligated to further your examination on this subject?" "Ami, I'm gonna say it straight, even though it will sound crazy. I feel like I know what's gonna happen, like I already lived this once. It's like a dream, but…when I heard the word tool-shed I could picture something in my head; not it, but rather a place, somewhere. It was only for a second though and it didn't happen since. It was like a blurry…dream, like something that is stuck, is hidden somewhere in my brain." "But you did dream something, right? You had at least two nightmares for all I know. Remember anything from any of them?" The purple-haired girl tried hard to remember, but just shook her head in the end. "I'm sorry, Ami…nothing, absolutely nothing." "I remember that when I woke you up, you said…something about a dark forest and that you were looking for me. And…oh yes! About the second one; before I woke you up, you were talking in your sleep. And you kept repeating bull-skin." "Bull-skin? Are you certain that's what you heard?" "Yeah, but it could have been some other dream, right?" "Bull-skin…what could that mean?"

Lightning started outside. The sound of raindrops was really pale, yet it had quite an interesting sonic effect. Yumi was lying on the bed, thinking about this whole thing. Ami was preparing lunch in the kitchen. The purple-haired girl was contemplating the gray nature outside and recalling the incident that not so long ago occurred. So she found a genuine speech reversal. Maybe it really was a big coincidence. "Impossible" she thought. The voice clearly told her to listen to it backwards; plus all the elements and ideas from the forward part. But what intrigued the girl more than anything was much frightful. Was this an intentional back-masking, or did the unconscious get involved? "Yumi, come on, lunch is ready." She got up, regained her senses and joined Ami in the kitchen. "Yumi, you look strange. What's wrong?" "Huh? Oh, nothing…I was just thinking." "About what?" "Jeez, you're awfully curious." That was actually a thing that Yumi liked about her friend: her curiosity. She was sometimes just like a child that wanted to know everything that was happening. She actually adopted this habit a few days after she first met Yumi in Tokyo. She suddenly became curious about every aspect of her. The purple-haired girl did not realize that, in a little while, she would become a friend like no other. She also did not realize that she really wanted a friend like her. "I was just thinking about the past."

"Come on, Yumi, time to go!" Yumi was disturbed from an extremely relaxing sleep. "Go?" she asked with a sleepy voice and eyes half-opened. "Go where?" "Back to Japan, silly." She forgot all about it. The plane was leaving in an hour. "Oh, no. Gotta get ready." They finally arrived at the airport. They were supposed to take the plane ride, while the bus was sent by ferry across the ocean to the United States. The girls were heading it the exact opposite direction. Kaz left the girls at the entrance and then drove off to the ferry. "Well, that's our plane" Ami said, pointing to a white monstrosity that was noticeable by its enormous proportions. "Business class, right Ami?" Yumi asked with a bored voice, just to make sure she won't travel with all the common people. The two rushed for the gate and Ami prepared the tickets. "Good thing we don't have a great deal of luggage" she said. All their stuff remained in the bus. They took only the essential, plus Yumi had a credit card with quite a lot of money on it, so if they needed something, they could buy it right away. Ami was filled with joy as always. Unlike Yumi, she was enthusiastic about flying. She especially enjoyed the feeling she would get looking outside, as the plane took off. But, with Yumi, there was another story. She hated flying from day one. She was petrified about planes, but she never told her friend. Usually, when the plane took off, the purple-haired girl would keep her eyes shut and hold on to the seat handles as tightly as possible. She would calm down a bit as soon as the plane reached its peak and started flying horizontally. Somehow, Ami never notice this. Yumi was not afraid of the height but rather of the possible impact. "Look, there it is" Ami said when she spotted the gate. Immediately she felt something grabbing her hand, pulling her back. It was Yumi. "Ami, I need to ask you something." "What is it?" "If I were to remain here for a while, would you miss me?" "What do you mean?" "If I don't get on the plane with you and stay here, would you miss me?" the girl asked again. "Yumi, what's wrong? Are you feeling alright?" "Yeah, but it's not that." Ami stopped and looked in her friend's eyes. "Yumi, what is this about?" "Remember yesterday when you said that I should make my own choices?" "Yes, and it's true. No one else can make them for you. Whatever you choose is your own choice and I will respect it." "Then I choose to stay." Yumi took the pink-haired girl by the hand and they both sat down on a bench. "That's my choice, Ami. I want to remain here for a while." "Is this about the song?" Yumi lowered her head a bit and Ami understood the answer. "Well, I don't know what you expect to find about it, but I'm curious enough to stay and find out." "You mean you'll stay with me?" Yumi's face lit up. "Of course I will. Remember that you made a promise. I have to help you in solving this." Yumi gave her an inexplicably big hug; at least inexplicable for Ami. She was so glad that her friend wanted to stay with her. She couldn't stand the thought of being separated from her cherry-eyed girl. But Yumi immediately regained her senses and pulled back. After all, she had a reputation to keep and they were in the middle of a crowded airport. "But we don't have a place to stay. Our bus is gone." "We can stay at hotels. I got a fortune on this credit card. It was the only way to keep Kaz from stealing it." "And how will we travel?" "I'm thinking…" They took a bus back to the city and checked into a hotel. They went to a restaurant and on the way back Yumi spotted a store. "Ami, I got a surprise for you." "What is it?" "Not now…first thing in the morning." It was getting dark. The setting sun was creating a spectacular crimson sky. "By the way, Yumi, I never got the chance to ask you…how did you know to play the song backwards? I mean, did it simply come to you?" "Can you keep a secret Ami?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven "Chapter 7"****  
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>The shining sun was announcing the beginning of a beautiful day. Ami was waking up when she heard a loud roaring noise. She looked out the window and she saw…Yumi. She saw her in the parking lot, practicing on her new sporty motorcycle (Japanese brand of course). In an instance, Ami dressed up and rushed downstairs. "Yumi…What is that? Where did you get it?" "Do you like it? This will be our ride for our time spent here. What do you think of it?" Ami couldn't stop staring at it. "It's…it's amazing, Yumi." "That's not all. I got us some special suites and helmets that match its colors. They came with it." What she didn't tell her is that it was the first time she was riding a motorcycle. The only thing she ever rode before was her scooter. But she practiced all morning and learned in no time. There weren't many differences in handling it. "Wow, Yumi. It's really great. Any room for me on it?" "Of course, Ami. All big motorcycles have another seat for the passenger. Hop on!" She took the girl for a few rides around the parking lot. Ami was ecstatic. She just loved the feeling. The scooter couldn't possibly match up to this wild thing on two wheels. "By the looks on your face, I'm guessing you really like it" Yumi noticed after the ride was over. "It's terrific, Yumi. But how did you get it?" "I told you. My credit card has a fortune on it. I spent only half of it on this beast, plus the suits and helmets. Those are in our room. By the way, did you try yours on?" The girls went back in the hotel room, where Ami saw her new motorcycle suit and just loved it. "Wow, Yumi, it really matches the motorcycle's colors." "Didn't I tell you?" This really was a great surprise for Ami. And it really was a practical solution: they practically had no luggage except for their cosmetics and two longer T-shirts they used as pajamas. Plus the suites went over what they usually wore. "I got to hand it to you Yumi, you're a genius" Ami said filled with joy. "Now what's the plan?" "Well, Ami, I've been thinking…The tool-shed is the only thing we got so far. We just have to figure out where it is. You said that there were three places in which the song was created, right? Do you remember them?" "Yeah…they were the Island Studios here in London, Bron-Yr-Aur, in Wales…I remember it because it appeared in many of the band's song titles…but the third one was…was…" "Headley Grange, in Hampshire." "Right…how do you know?" Just then Ami saw that Yumi had a mini-notebook in which she wrote everything so far, the lyrics, the facts, the reverse speech, everything related to the song. "I knew that, if I was going to stay here, my computer would have remained in the tour bus, so I wrote everything down on this." "Smart thinking, Yumi." "You gave me the idea though. It was you who said that we should write it down, wasn't it?" "Ok! So, I'm guessing that we will search for the tool-shed in these places? Where do we start?" Ami asked. "Where else? The nearest one is right here, in London." After breakfast, the girls were off for the studios. None of them expected to find anything, because the venue has been modernized many times. It probably looked nothing like it did back when Led Zeppelin recorded the song; back then they were called The Basing Street Studios. Still, the girls were curious. They took the motorcycle there, but left their helmets in the hotel room. After all, a ride through the city isn't that dangerous. When they got there, everybody was ecstatic as they thought the girls came to record a new album. Ami told them that sadly this wasn't the case, but they still did a few numbers much to the pleasure of everyone, only with some guitars, as there were no drums in sight. The place looked exactly how they thought it would: brand new, with new bought gear and instruments. Someone finally asked what they were doing there. "Oh, we were passing by and thought we'd see how the studio looks. It's great. We might just come back to record some new stuff." Ami said, not wanting to mention anything about the real reason they were there. "It is, yes, thank you" the man said "and we're really proud of it. It's one of the best recording studios in the Kingdom. Plus, it has been 'round for quite some time. We have a great collection of pictures with every band that created music here." "Really?" the girls asked almost at the same time. The man, who looked like he was in charge there, took them on a kind of tour of the studio and the girls finally found what they were looking for, a black and white photo of Led Zeppelin recording back in 1972. That was the year Stairway came out. "So how did recording with them go?" Yumi asked the guys there. Unfortunately, no one was working at the studio then, except an old man who apparently just walked in. "Oh, yes. I remember them well, talented fellows. Extremely polite as well. This was not a rock &amp; roll habit back then." "Were you there when they written the song?" "Oh, no, no…the song was already written when they got here. They just recorded it. That's why it didn't take so long. But they did indeed write some other songs here. They really had a good time; us as well." "I was wondering…would it be possible for us to borrow this photo?" Ami asked with a silky smile. "Oh, I'm afraid not" the first man intervened "we are really proud of these photos and they mean so much to us, but we do have some copies somewhere around; maybe we have some of this photo as well. Wait, I'll go check…" Ami kept her fingers crossed. "Found it. And you're lucky…we don't easily find stuff here."<p>

The girls were sitting at a restaurant table, looking at the photo. It showed Robert Plant and Jimmy Page sitting in front of a mixing desk, laughing. "Well, Ami, I for one think this was a waste of time…we didn't find anything useful." "Don't be so sure, Yumi. What makes you think this isn't important?" "What could be so important at an old photo? Seriously, Ami, do you even know what we're after?" "Do you?" "Well…no, but…" "There, you see? We both have no idea what we want to find, therefore anything is important" the pink-haired girl said smiling. "If you don't want it, give it to me, I'll hang on to it." Ami became somehow very fund of this photo and it was quite valuable, at least to her. As they were walking out, the sun was about to set. "We should get back, Ami. Remember, this is the last night we'll spend in London…at least until we get back." She started up her motorcycle. "Hop on, Ami." The pink-haired girl always waited for Yumi's confirmation to climb on this madness on two wheels and she would always get it; and whenever she heard the words "hop on", she would almost tremble with excitement.

Yumi was right: this would be their last night in London. They drove through the enormous city as the red sun was setting at the horizon. "Ami, the surprise ain't over yet. This will be a night you will remember." As Yumi said this, Ami could see colored lights in the red sky and hear joyous music and people cheering. Through the trees, the lights and the pleasant noise revealed the big surprise. "Wow!" the girl exclaimed. "An amusement park…Yumi…" Ami's lost for words said it all. Yumi took a glimpse of her friend's face: the cherry-eyed was overwhelmed; her eyes were shining with color. What she wouldn't give to look at her expression for a little bit longer, but she had to keep her eyes on the road. After Yumi parked the motorcycle, the girls entered this wild land of fantasy. It was magical. Ever since she was a little girl, Ami had always loved amusement parks and all the games and rides. Yumi wanted to make this night special for her friend and it was a total success. Ami was having the time of her life, riding alongside Yumi in the huge mountain-rouse that was surrounding the whole park, feeling like nothing else in the world mattered. They were the center of the universe. The atmosphere was ecstatic, almost psychedelic. Yumi kept a close eye on her friend, watching her every gesture. She wanted to make sure Ami was enjoying every bit of this. This was the gift for deciding to remain here, not to leave her site. It really meant the world to her; Ami meant the world to her. The night was nowhere near the end. Ami was like a little kid, holding tight to Yumi's hand, joyously pointing everything she found to be fun. They went on all the rides and all the games they could. Their night out ended with the ride on the big wheel, followed by a firework show. Yumi's heart was warmer as she was witnessing her friend's pure happiness.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight "Journey To The Impossible"****  
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>The girls were back in their hotel room, already in bed. Both of them were tired, but particularly Ami. She really had loads of fun and her face was still blushing with happiness, but she could barely keep her eyes opened. Yumi was lying next to her, watching TV. It was a habit. In her own room, she didn't have a television, so, whenever she was spending the night in a hotel, she would fall asleep watching TV. Nothing in particular though; she just liked the thought of it. She programmed it to self-close after an hour and started browsing, flipping channels without searching for anything specific, but keeping the volume down, so not to disturb her friend. Also she lit up a perfume-stick, to help the girls sleep better. These were complementary gifts offered by the hotel. "Did you enjoy tonight, Ami?" as if it wasn't obvious. "Oh yeah, I had the time of my life" the girl slowly said with a half-voice and her eyes closed. "Yeah, me too. We should do this more often, don't you agree?" "Mhm. We should." Ami's voice was even quieter than before. Yumi looked at her: she was so sweet when she was half-asleep with her eyes closed and her cheeks still red. "Where do you think we should head for tomorrow?" "Mhm" the delicate girl answered, finally falling asleep. Yumi then did something for the first time ever: she kissed her cheek. "Rest now, Ami. You deserve it." Then she got back to watching TV.<p>

The sun reflected its light on Ami's soft face as she was waking up. She wanted to get up and make breakfast, but remembered they were no longer in their bus, but in a hotel room. Last night really was a good surprise for her. "Wow; Yumi is really the best friend anyone could ask for; I'm sure grateful she's mine." These thoughts were running through her mind, as she saw Yumi sleeping next to her. Ami looked at her face for a bit: she looked so calm, so peaceful. They were so far away from home, yet they were having the time of their lives. And, most importantly, they had each other. Together, they were unbeatable. Ami embraced the purple-haired girl and went back to sleep, not wanting to let go of her.

"Come on Ami; ready to go?" "Yeah, let's go." And what a lovely day it was. The girls had a long road ahead. Today, they were planning to reach Headley, in Hampshire. They only had 50 miles to go so they were sure they would reach it before sunset. They would see Headley Grange, heading afterwards to Southampton, where they would spend the night. This was the plan. So they checked-out of the hotel and got to the parking lot, where Yumi got the motorcycle ready. "Hop on, Ami." In a stream of sound, they were off. Before actually leaving London, they made a final tour. They saw every place they've been in the last two weeks. While something in their life was ending, another brand new thing was beginning. They could feel it. Their road was straight ahead. All they had to do was ride on it top speed. And they enjoyed doing it. This was the first time they were really testing this beast on two wheels. It was like riding on wind, especially for Ami. It was Yumi's first true motorcycle ride, but Ami didn't know this and didn't need to. Yumi was handling it perfectly. She seemed like a real pro. They reached the highway and here it just got better and better, faster and faster, not going over the legal limit, of course. Ami trusted her friend more than anyone, which is why she wasn't scared one bit. If there was anybody else driving, she would have been a little less than terrified. But with Yumi, that's another story. She was ready to put her life in Yumi's hands without second thoughts. That's how much she believed in her. At the same time, Yumi would do just about anything to ensure her friend's safety. Had it not been Ami in the back of her, she would have driven even faster, because she could have handled it. But, in this case, she cared more about her friend even than herself. The fact that Ami was there added an extra amount of precaution in Yumi's driving. The day was made for this ride: not a single cloud in the sky and the sun shinning over the endless green fields; rarely had England seen days like this.

After a heavenly three-hour motorcycle ride, they reached their destination, Headley village. It didn't take them long to find Headley Grange. They read that it was a former English poorhouse. They couldn't believe their eyes. "Is this really the house?" Ami gasped. They were standing in front of a completely modernized huge mansion. Needless to say, it was bigger than any other construction in the village. The girls couldn't believe their eyes. They were expecting something totally different. They asked around, but everybody confirmed that it was indeed Headley Grange. No one knew why they were so surprised. But the two wanted to find an old simple possibly deserted house, next to which there would be a tool-shed which they would inspect. They were a little more then disappointed: not only there was no tool-shed, but the house itself looked like it came right out of some American movie. Still, they couldn't just walk away from it. "Well, we're not gonna do much just staring at it, let's enter" Ami said as she went for the door. In an instant, she was surrounded by many security guards and some scary-looking black dogs. She immediately retreated, almost hiding behind Yumi, who didn't look nervous at all. "He-he-hello, we just wanted to go inside. Ma-may we enter?" Ami managed to ask. "No you may not" the answer came violently. "This is a private residence. Go play somewhere else, kids." "KIDS? We are not…" but the door opened before Yumi could finish her protest. "It's alright, boys. I'll take it from here." The guards withdrew and Yumi could see the shape of a middle-aged man, with white hair and a calm and pleasant figure. "What can I do for you, ladies?" he politely asked and then introduced himself. "Hello sir, are you the owner?" "Wishing…" he said smiling, "no, actually I'm, in a way, the caretaker here; so, you could say I'm the owner when no one is renting this house." Ami regain her former self rather quickly. "We just wanted to know more about this mansion. May we please enter?" she asked, making clever use of her charming and innocent way of being. "Of course, be my guest!" the man happily replied and invited them inside. "Let's not tell him who we really are, Yumi" she whispered to her friend, "we don't have time for another musical demonstration". "I know what you mean" the purple-haired girl whispered back, thinking of the small musical number they had to do back at the London studio. "So, you're the man in charge here; that must mean that you know a lot about this place" Yumi wondered. "Oh, no, no; I just know…everything there is to know about it, really" he replied smiling. "This very house was built in 1795 at about £1,500 for the parishes sheltering the infirm, aged paupers, and orphan or illegitimate children. An interesting fact is that it was sacked by a mob of rioters, on 23rd November 1830. Eventually, this rebellion failed…" The man seemed to enjoy telling stories about the house and Ami was really interested, but Yumi was hardly paying attention. She was looking around for anything, just anything. They went up the stairs and Yumi saw a picture of Jimmy Page in front of this very house. Underneath it, Yumi could read:

'It was very Charles Dickens; dank and spooky. The room I chose to live in was at the very top of the building, and the sheets were always sort of wet. Headley Grange freaked Robert and John Bonham out, but I liked it, actually. I'm pretty sure it was haunted. I remember going up the main stairway on the way to my room one night and seeing a gray shape at the top. I double-checked to see if it was just a play of light, and it wasn't. So I turned around pretty fast, because I didn't really want to have an encounter with something like that. But I wasn't surprised to find spirits there because the place had a miserable past. One real positive outcome of us recording there is that, I believe, we revitalized the energy at Headley. The place became lighter as a result of our stay there.'

"Creepy, no?" The man spotted her reading the text. "The spirits seemed to enjoy their music and were somehow revitalized by it. Isn't that something to be proud of, the fact that the dead loved their music?" he said laughing. The three ended the tour of the house right before Ami remembered to ask: "Excuse me, sir. Did this house ever have a tool-shed?" "A tool-shed? I am not aware of that. It might have had one, back before the rebellion. But if there was one, it was destroyed."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine "Alton Tonight"****  
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>The girls said goodbye to the care-taker. "By the way, do you know how much it'll take us to get to Southampton?" Ami asked. "About two hours." Unfortunately, it was already eight o'clock and Ami didn't want Yumi to drive by night. "Let's see if we can spend the night somewhere around here." Yumi agreed and they drove off to find a near village. They found a nice little hotel in a town called Alton, not far away, where they checked in, then went out to find a restaurant. "Were will we head to next?" "Well Ami, today was just the warm-up. We got a long road ahead tomorrow to Wales. We'll leave in the morning, so I suggest we go to sleep early tonight. I wouldn't want to get there late." On the way back, the girls could see that this was a small and quiet, but very humble town and really charming actually. They took their time and sat down on a bench, gazing at the stars. "Look at us, Ami…a couple of days ago, we were in the international capital of music, surrounded by fans and rocking and singing…and now here we are in this little village where nobody heard of us…" "But we are still together. Isn't that all that matters? I'm happier this way…I almost forgot about how it's like when we don't have to worry about people chasing us for autographs and we can gaze at the sky. I sometimes wonder if, in this search for fame, we forgot how beautiful this simple life is. Do you know what I mean?" "We should get going." "Just one more minute…please?" How could Yumi resist? Ami was lying down, her head in Yumi's lap, her face blushing, making everything around seem brighter and her eyes staring directly in Yumi's. In her friend's blue ocean-like eyes, Ami always found care, protection, love. "Tell me, Yumi, if you would have to live this life again, would you want to change anything?" "Let me think." "Because for me, everything changed when I met you; everything changed for the better. And I can't imagine living without you now." "Me neither Ami, me neither." "So, tell me, would you want to change something? Would you do something differently, or not do it at all?" "I have to think about it…"<p>

"I've got it!" "What is it?" Ami asked lying on the bed, hands behind her head, looking at her friend. "The one thing I would change is not to make the mistake of taking those opera courses; those things can kill you" Yumi said while brushing her hair in the mirror. "Yeah, that'll be something" Ami laughed. "Also, I would definitely postpone those last concerts in London." "But, Yumi, those concerts are the reason we are here. If you didn't get sick, you wouldn't have heard that song until probably much later." Ami turned around, now facing her pillow, thinking. Her hands were placed now around the pillow, almost hugging it. "You know, Yumi, we should probably go home by now. I mean, what are we trying to do, actually? What are we after? So, we heard something weird in a song; that doesn't necessarily mean that there is something else there, does it? Yumi, I didn't tell you this before, but I'm a little scared. Maybe of what we might find and what…" Ami was thinking out loud. She didn't even notice that Yumi was not any longer in front of the mirror. She got on top of Ami and started massaging her back. She was a pro at this. Her massages always managed to relax Ami like nothing else. This one didn't fail to do so. Ami closed her eyes and fell into a sweet gentile numbness. "That's right, Ami; you are scared. I can see exactly how scared you are" the purple-haired girl sarcastically said, as her hands were gently rubbing Ami's back. Ami kept her cherry-eyes closed, absorbing the pleasurable feeling of her friend's touch, rotating her arms gently on her shoulders. How Yumi loved this sight! Ami was simply powerless under Yumi's caress. It was almost painfully cute. "When I find out what this song really tells me who knows? I might become more famous than anyone" Yumi exaggerated on purpose. "But, one thing still puzzles me; what can bull-skin mean? When I find that out…" "But we work together, right?" Ami asked, still keeping her eyes closed; "You promised that I will help you through this, didn't you?" "I did, but you're kinda slowing me down, lately. And you say that you're scared. I was thinking that, maybe it is better if you returned home" Yumi joked. Ami however took it seriously. "No, I'm not scared" she complained with an almost begging voice, but still kept her head on the pillow. Yumi's massage wouldn't let her move a muscle. "I'm not scared. Not when you're around. Please let me stay with you. I want to stay here. I want to help you. Please don't send me away." "Of course I won't, silly" Yumi laughed and started tickling Ami, which made her giggle uncontrollably. "Stop…stop it, Yumi" she said through laughter. "Promise you won't be scared anymore?" Yumi asked with a smirk on her face. "Ok…ok…I promise…I promise…I won't ever get scared again…" Yumi pulled away while Ami was still laughing. "Remember Ami, you promised. I won't forget this promise."

This time, the night was darker than usual. The girls got used to the London night lights. But here, in a simple village, with nothing but the moon and stars, what could have brightened their dreams? "You know, Ami, I never thanked you for taking care of me while I was sick." "That's what friends are for, Yumi. I didn't get to thank you either. I didn't thank you for taking me to the amusement park. That was the greatest night of my life. And the best part was when we were on that big wheel, all alone, on top of everything else, while the all lights flickered like little candles below us. If time stopped right then and there and we would have remained there for the rest of our lives, it still would have been worth it." Yumi smiled at these thoughts. "What would happen if somebody, someday, finds out about our story and decides to tell other people, Ami? What will he or she say about us?" "Once upon a time" Ami started with a gentile voice "a brave purple-haired girl met a shy little pink-haired girl in the wildest city on Earth." "And what she saw in that frail girl she saw in nobody else," Yumi continued with a very soft voice, "she saw the sister she never had. And they became the best friends in the world and they never left each other's site." "And what did they promise?" Ami asked with her eyes closed. "They promised that they will be best friends forever and that they will always be there for each other." "And never leave each other's side, right?" Ami asked with a dimmed voice. "Exactly, Ami; that's exactly what they promised." "And then what happened?" "One day, the purple-haired girl heard about a beautiful and extraordinary place called America. And so, she began to wonder; what could that be like?" "But she didn't want to leave her friend, did she?" "No, she didn't. They made a promise..." "…and promises should be kept." "That's right, Ami. So, she had to make a choice: either keep her promise, and stay beside her best friend, or break her promise, and go explore other territories in search of this land." "And she did want to see other lands and other countries…" "Yes, she did. You see, she never been outside her home country before" Yumi said looking at Ami. She was like an angel, with her eyes closed, her face blushing, keeping very still, but fighting very hard not to fall asleep. Her hand around Yumi was enough to make the dark night turn into a bright and beautiful evening. She embraced it with her left hand, while, with her right, she softly started caressing Ami's hair, who was just about to give up the fight. Yumi couldn't take her eyes from her friend's beautiful and pure face for a second, as she continued telling the story. "And finally, she decided to tell her mother about her decision and to ask for advice. The purple-haired girl asked her if she should continue her life in her home country, or go in search of this new and interesting territory. But her mother answered that she should follow her own heart and that nobody else can decide for her. And so, curiosity overcame the purple-haired girl. Her desire to find this land grew and grew, until that was the only thing that she could dream of. In her dreams, she would always picture this land as the perfect place, where the sun always shines and the grass is always green." Yumi had magic in her voice, the kind of magic that would calm down even the angriest and most agitated person, a magic so pure any name would stain it. How could poor Ami resist? Yumi's voice was caressing her ears like no other sound ever could; it was like a giant and heavy, but wonderful blanket, setting down on her very slowly, not allowing her to make the slightest move. "She didn't want to leave her best friend's side though, so she decided to invite her to travel along with her to this foreign territory. But she was afraid that the pink-haired girl will prefer to remain home. If this was the case, the purple-haired one would have found it very difficult to leave her friend behind; she meant more to her than any other thing in the world. So, one faithful sunny day, she called the pink-haired girl and told her that she has got a very important question to ask her. The pink-haired girl was anxious to find out what was on her friend's mind. And so, she found out about her decision to leave, but also found out that she couldn't, if that meant to leave her best friend forever. And then, the pink-haired girl said the most wonderful thing her friend ever heard. She said that, no matter where she goes, she will follow her and that nobody can ever separate them. The joy that the purple-haired girl felt in that moment could be compared to nothing. She had to look away, because she felt like she was about to cry tears of joy and she didn't want her friend to see. Because, deep in her heart…" Yumi stopped. Ami was well asleep, her face so peaceful. Yumi's task was done. "What will tomorrow bring?" she wondered. 'If I were to remain here for a while, would you miss me?' 'What do you mean?' That conversation came back to her. She remembered Ami's puzzled expression, while the sun shined on the perfectly clear blue sky behind her, through the huge London airport windows, creating something like an aura around her. She also remembered how thrilled she became when Ami decided to stay with her. And she hated flying. The first time she got on a plane, she was so nervous, but so calm on the outside, that Ami did not notice. When the plane began to move, Yumi suddenly and involuntary grabbed Ami's arm and hanged on to it. But Ami, who was also experiencing this for the first time, could not get herself to stop looking out the window in excitement. Yumi whispered "Ami, I know I didn't tell you this before…but I'm not a good flyer. I need to get off." But Ami didn't hear. Yumi had no option but to close her eyes and wait. She did not want to see. She was even nervous in a skyscraper's elevator with an outside view. She would always think "It's too high; it's too high; stop already." So how could she be calm as she was flying five miles above the earth?

Ami didn't remember much. All she knew was that she was standing in the middle of the room, looking at the bed. It was still dark outside, maybe a little darker than before, so Ami couldn't see much. Her first thought was that she should go back to bed. After all, they had a long road ahead of them. She wanted to know what time it was, but couldn't see what the clock was showing. And she didn't want to turn the lights on, not to disturb Yumi. She got in bed and wrapped her arms around Yumi. In the exact same moment, she immediately got up with a shiver. Yumi was not there, only her pillow. She flipped the switch, but the lights refused to shine. Ami became really nervous. Her first reaction was thinking that Yumi was in the bathroom. But the bathroom door was opened and nobody was inside. She looked out the window. Nobody was visible; the village was lifeless, just like a ghost town. She got dressed in an instant and left the room, searching for Yumi. She went down the dark staircase, with only one thing in mind: "I must find her." Outside the hotel, there was a bizarre warm breeze and an almost frightening darkness. Even the moon was not out. She was shivering. Still, she had to find Yumi. The girl got on the empty street. Suddenly, she heard a loud whistle striking her with fear. She turned around, only to see more and more darkness. "Yumi, are you there?" she said with a dimmed voice. She was too scared to shout. No answer. "Where can she be?" she thought "where did she go?" "Yumi" she almost shouted. She did not even know which way to go. "YUMI" she really shouted her name this time. Exactly then she realized something she did not notice before. All the time, there was a really fainted sound coming from far away, like a hidden roar. Immediately after she yelled, that sound ceased. Now, it was morbidly quiet and the frail girl got more and more scared. She felt like someone was there, like someone was watching her every move. But she couldn't see anyone, which made her terrifyingly frightened. "Yumi, please, where are you?" she whispered as a tear fell from her eye. Even though there were no sounds whatsoever, Ami felt something from behind her getting closer and closer, something really loud. She heard a fearful sound getting louder and louder, but not with her ears; she heard it in her mind. She knew now that something was behind her and she knew that, if she turned around she'll see nothing. Her entire body was trembling with fear. If she started running, that inexistent thing would chase her and the odds were greater that she would get caught. "Yumi, where are you? Please…why did you go?" She started crying. "If you're trying to scare me, it worked. Please, show yourself" she almost whispered with a shivering voice, as she fell down on her knees, covering her ears and keeping her eyes shut. She was too scared to want to see or hear anything. She got on the ground and started crying, as the imaginary sound was getting ever louder, like people shouting. "I'm sorry, Yumi" she thought. "I'm sorry that I couldn't find you and I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my promise towards you. I'm terrified. I can't move and I can't keep myself from hearing this terrible sound. What can I do? I need your help." Even if she kept her eyes shut, she could see faces, white faces of dead people all around. The screams got louder and louder in her mind to the point that she couldn't even hear herself scream in fear. The poor girl was out of powers and inner-strength. She desperately tried to move this away from her mind, as she was helplessly witnessing all hell breaking loose around her. Voices were heard, millions of voices shouting at the same time, shouting something that couldn't be understood. There was no more hope left in her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten "No One Makes Us Close Our Eyes"****  
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>The first sun rays that entered the quiet room set down on Ami's soft face as she was sleeping. She burst out from the nightmare just in time to see the beautiful sunrise. Her eyes were wet; she had been crying in her sleep. Yumi was sleeping soundly next to her. For some reason, Ami didn't go directly back to sleep. She looked out the window for a while, admiring the big red sun coming out at the horizon. She then lied back on the bed, sharing the same pillow as Yumi. Closing her eyes, she could picture that dark scene over and over again. If she got scared by a simple nightmare, how could she expect to keep her promise towards Yumi? She opened her pink cherry-like eyes for the second time. She didn't feel like going back to sleep.<p>

"You're very quiet this morning, Ami; is something wrong?" Yumi asked while brushing her friend's pink hair in front of the mirror. "I'm fine; didn't get enough sleep last night, though." "That's strange; I could've sworn you were asleep. Well, we got a long road ahead of us today." And, just like that, they were on the road again. Only this time the weather wasn't on their side. It wasn't raining yet, but anyone could tell that it wasn't long before it would start. The road was long, but the destination may have held the answer. Anyway, Bron-Yr-Aur was the only thing left, their only trace. If that was a dead end, what then? "What then?" was the question Yumi kept repeating to herself. This last week the song and everything related to it became almost an obsession for the girl. She wanted to know more, she wanted to know all there was to know. The motorcycle was now rolling down the freeway like a mere thought through the fields of an immense jigsaw puzzle. And the girls were getting closer and closer to the missing piece. But for the first time, this question occurred to Yumi: suppose they do find the tool-shed, then what? She didn't really thought about it, did she? Of course it was too late to give up, but what if the tool-shed is just plain ordinary, with nothing special? That couldn't be; by now, she trusted the song too much to believe that. When you're really stuck to something, it's almost impossible to let go. As the motorcycle was rambling faster, Ami was holding tight to her friend; she had her own share of thinking to do. The dream from the night before didn't quite leave her mind yet. When you're on two wheels at 60 miles per hour, time goes slow and fast at the same time. She looked around. Everything here looked exactly like back home. This landscape, these small hills and valleys were not unique in any of the obvious senses; in fact, they were quite common. But, in a much more mysterious way, everything here was highly unique; the ache and the eerie melancholy that seemed to arise were spectacularly unique. Ami closed her eyes and her grip to Yumi became a little tighter, but not noticeable. "I wonder what's next for us, when all of this comes to an end" she thought. "Whatever it is, we will come across it together." Nothing else really mattered when they were together; it was such a great attraction between the two, like magnets. They just couldn't be separated. As long as they had each other, there were no boundaries they could not overcome.

"Bron-Yr-Aur, we're almost there, Ami" Yumi said as the motorcycle was slowing down, "not long now." A wooden sign announced the two wanderers that they were getting closer and closer to their destination. They reached a forest that separated the house from the rest of the world. "Well, Ami, looks like we have to go on foot now. We'll have to leave the motorcycle here." "A forest? Isn't that strange, Yumi, this forest surrounding the house?" "Whatever you say, Ami. It's only about half a mile long though. We'll cross it in no time." Yumi did not seem to be affected in any way by their arrival at Bron-Yr-Aur. The truth was, however, that she could hardly keep from running towards the house. It's fair to say that she was very excited, but didn't want to show it. The house of Bron-Yr-Aur stood in front of them. This one didn't disappoint. It was old and still as mystic as back in the days. You could tell that, even if many people came here on different occasions, it was never properly lived. The girls started searching all around the house, but a tool-shed was not to be found. "Maybe it's inside" Ami thought. Although Yumi had serious doubt that they will be able to enter the house, she agreed to try. She knocked on the door, but nobody answered. Simply out of reflex, she then tried the door and, to their great surprise, it opened. "I don't think that we're allowed to enter, Yumi." "Hello! Anybody here?" Yumi shouted. "Sorry, for the intrusion, we just wanted…" but Yumi covered Ami's mouth, not letting her to continue. "Relax, Ami, there is nobody here." "How do you know?" "Trust me, I do." The inside was desolating, but this aspect only enhanced the girls' desire to search the whole house. As they were looking around, Yumi spotted a wall filled with pictures, photos of Led Zeppelin, from top to bottom. She came to check them out. All the photos were black and white. There were photos of them singing and playing their instruments or just relaxing inside the house or outside, on the grass, even one with them on top of the roof. "How they got there is beyond me" Yumi thought. But one photo was clearly not taken there. The room was different. Yumi looked closer: "Hey, isn't this…" It was the same photo from the studio. "Ami! Come here quick!" Two seconds hardly passed and the pink-haired girl was at her friend's side. ""Tell me you still have the photo from the studio." "Of course" Ami said a bit puzzled "I always keep it with me." Yumi took it and placed it next to the one on the wall. She looked for anything different between the two, even though it was the same photo. "For crying out loud, it's darker than a dungeon in here" the purple-haired girl complained, after which she took the two pictures and stepped outside, with Ami watching closely. The sun finally started to shine through the clouds. Yumi placed the two photos on the grass, next to each other. "What are you looking for?" "Ami, take a look. Are these photos identical?" Ami looked at hers, then at the one off the wall, then at the other one again. No doubt about it, it was the same photo; the same two guys, the same facial expressions, the same positions, the same… "Wait! Yumi, look here! Can you see that?" The picture Yumi took off the wall had a very small white mark with an even smaller black dot in the middle, just at Jimmy Page's shirt-pocket. It was hardly recognizable; but the other one didn't have it. "Maybe it's something stuck there." "No, Ami, I already checked it; it's part of the picture. But only this one has it. Remember that, at the studio, the guys had tones of photos like this one? I can bet anything that none of them had this mark, including the so-called original one." "But what is that?" "I don't know yet, but we'll find out soon. Ami, we're taking this photo with us." "Have you lost your mind? That's stealing!" "Do you have a better solution?" "Yeah. Leave it here. You have no idea what that is. What about the tool-shed?" "WHAT TOOL-SHED?" Yumi screamed. "Look around you, there is NO tool-shed. This is the last place we had and it's empty. We haven't found anything. What do you want? You want us to give up? Is that it?" "No", Ami said with a quiet panic in her voice "Well, good; we're taking this picture, and that's all there is to it." Ami looked again at the house. "And don't worry" Yumi said with a considerable loss of anger this time "who's gonna know? We're bringing it back tonight."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven "It"****  
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>The headlights of the motorcycle cut the foggy night like a knife. They were here again, the forest being the only thing separating them from the now familiar house. "Come on, Ami, let's go." A walk just a half a mile long and Bron-Yr-Aur shed its darkness in front of them. The old house was very spooky at night. "We…we can always come back tomorrow" Ami reminded her friend who pretended like she didn't hear. "Y-Yumi, why d-don't we come back in the morning?" Ami almost whispered. "In the morning we're off for the tool-shed." "But we already know where it is. What's the rush?" Even though it was dark and very foggy, Ami could still distinguish the look Yumi gave her and held back her complains. Once inside the house, Yumi switched her flashlight on. They only had one, so Ami had to stick close to her. They knew precisely where to go, which room to enter. "There" Yumi spotted the empty place on the wall, where the photo belonged. "Hand it over, Ami." The pink-haired girl did exactly as she was told.<p>

The fog seemed to have thickened, even though they were inside. Suddenly, Yumi's flashlight switched off. "What's wrong?" Ami asked. "Why did you switch it off?" "I didn't…the batteries must have run out" she said without the least of worries. She wasn't scared. Which was more than anyone could have said about Ami. Poor girl; how she wished she were anywhere else in that moment. Her grip to Yumi's hand became a little tighter. "What's wrong Ami? You scared?" An answer did not come. "Don't be. I promise we'll be out of here in no time. Wait a minute…there!" The picture was back in its place. "Ok, Ami, back to the motorcycle. Let's get out of here, huh?" Only then she realized that the fog had gotten so thick, she could hardly see Ami, who was right in front of her. "Yumi, I think we should go back; right now" the girl whispered. Yumi didn't have to hear that twice. She took Ami's hand and rushed to the exit. "Come on Ami." But she took her by surprise and she wasn't ready, so she tripped and fell, thus loosing Yumi's grip. "Yumi, wait." She rushed outside in search of her friend. "Yumi, where are you?" The forest in front of her looked to dark to even try to run through. But she was not even thinking of going away without Yumi. What could she do? Suddenly she felt something grabbing her right hand and another hand covering her mouth. Only for a second she screamed at the top of her voice in fear, until she heard Yumi's voice whispering "It's alright. It's just me. Just me." They both sat in the dark looking at the forest in front of them. Somehow, Yumi found this image, somehow, familiar. "Yumi, I want to go now. I don't like it here anymore." "But we're so close now. All we have to do is go to the tool-shed." "I don't want to do this anymore. I'm sorry. I said I wasn't going to be afraid, but this is too much for me. I wasn't expecting this." It was clear that she was scared beyond reasoning. "I give up, Ami, you win. I'm taking you back home. I made a stupid thing starting this blind search in the first place." "Thank you, Yumi." Ami tried to force a smile while thanking her friend, but her fear wouldn't let her. And then, just for a fraction of a second, it happened; a great big flash, blinding the girls, just for a moment. "What was that?" Ami pulled back staying behind Yumi. "I don't know, but we got to get out of here right now" she sensed something, an absolutely frightening presence. "Yumi, I'm scared…" What could Yumi do? "I want to go home, Yumi." "What did you say?" the girl gasped. In one blink of an eye, it all came back to her. 'I don't remember much. I can clearly picture you saying that you want to go home; yes, that's right, you begged me to take you home; and then…something happened…' That night, a mysterious calmness entered Yumi's bedroom, just after Ami woke her from her nightmare. Now she knew why this was all familiar. She could sense the evil approaching. "Ami, listen to me…something bad is gonna happen. We need to find the motorcycle and get out of here. We don't have the flashlight so we need to stick together no matter what." Ami was so frighten she could hardly keep from crying, but she found the strength she needed to answer Yumi. "Alright, Yumi, let's get out of here." "On the count of three we run through the forest back to the motorcycle. And, please Ami, whatever you do, don't let go of my hand." She already lost Ami once, in the dream; she wasn't planning on doing the same mistake again. "Get ready, Ami. One…two…THREE!" And off they went though the darkness; Yumi didn't know where the motorcycle was exactly, but she knew the forest wasn't big. They will cross it in no time and afterwards they would follow the road to it. She felt Ami's hand; the cherry-eyed girl was trying her best to keep up with her. "Ami, don't let go!" That thing was getting closer; Yumi couldn't see or hear it, but she knew, she knew something else was there, watching their every move, waiting for the proper time to attack. Panic stroke her; panic like she never felt before, from all sides. "Come on, Ami, just a little more." She didn't want to look behind. All that mattered was that she felt Ami's hand in hers. That gave her courage. But that thing was there. There was a malefic presence and it was right behind them. All around, everything was filled with fear. "Ami, don't look back." She could hear it. She heard it in her head. "Go away!" but her screaming didn't scare him. Then Ami's grip became tighter than before, just how Yumi wanted it. It meant not only that Ami was keeping up, but that she gained some courage herself. "We're almost there. I can see it. Ami, I can see the motorcycle. Ami, I…Ami? AMI!" The girl was gone. "But…I felt her grip…her hand was in mine…AMI!" This was too much for her. The courage she had was replaced by nothing but anger. "GIVE HER BACK!" She started running towards the old house. The fog was lifting. "NO, COME BACK!" she screamed with tears in her eyes. "AMI, COME BACK!" She reached Bron-Yr-Aur, but it was too late. "Ami, come back" she could hardly talk. Her eyes were drowning in tears, as she felt nothing, no evil presence, no dark force; what was there before, it was gone and the night regained its peaceful state from before. But Yumi also lost her best friend. Lying on the grass, she felt, for the first time, completely helpless and all alone. She couldn't help but cry. "It's not right, her hand was in mine. What do you want from her? Why won't you return?" "It will not return; not here, anyway." In a glimpse, Yumi was on her feet. "Who's there? Show yourself." Through the dark of the night, she could see the shape of a man. Yumi wanted to get at his throat and demand to know what happened to her friend, but something inside her told her to stay down. "Where is Ami?" she asked the man, who did not seem very surprised. "WHERE IS SHE?" she screamed. "I don't know where she is right now. But I know where it is taking her." "Why should I trust you?" "Well, it's entirely your decision if you want to trust me or not. But I can guarantee that I'm telling the truth. Now relax and listen." Yumi knew that he wasn't lying; it was in his voice. "It is mad that something was taken from it. Now, it took something from you. Do you know what was taken?" "What do you mean?" "This house; didn't you realize that there are no bloody guards or locks protecting it? Didn't it cross your mind? This house here is guarded by something much more powerful than human forces. And something was stolen. This is the only explanation why Ami, if I remember correctly, is gone. So, have you any idea what was stolen?" The moon finally lit his face. Yumi didn't hesitate "I know who you are!"

The sun was shinning even brighter than before as the two girls were driving to the nearest town possible. Surprisingly, it didn't rain that afternoon. They reached the town of Bangor, a quiet little northern town, which was home to the University of Wales. "If we're searching for information we might as well start there" Ami said. Entering the main building, the girls gained a strange but comforting feeling. A man welcomed them in. "What can I do for you, young ladies?" "We wanted to search for something in particular." "Well, you certainly came to the right place; we have a wide variety of books about multiple subjects and also, if you want, you can use our computer room for Internet facts. Just let me know what you're interested in." "First of all, we need a magnifying glass" Yumi said. "Do you happen to have one?" "Of course, follow me." The girls got inside the lecture room, where the man gave them a huge magnifying glass. "Here you are, girls; be sure to call me if you need anything else." Yumi placed the photo on a table and the magnifying glass just above the strange white mark. It looked like some sort of strange symbol, like the Star of David, only the figure was made by a single line. Furthermore, in the middle, it had something that looked like a five-leaf clover. Yumi started reproducing the symbol on a piece of paper, while Ami went looking for the man from before. "Did you find what you were looking for?" "Yes, we did. Thank you for the magnifying glass" Ami politely said "we want to know some facts about a certain symbol." "What can you tell us about this?" Yumi asked, holding the piece of paper, on which she reproduced the symbol as accurate as she could. "Yes, I recognize that symbol. That is a resemblance of the unicursal hexagram. But what's that in the middle?" "We figured it's some kind of clover. Thanks for the information. May we please use the Internet?" Ami asked politely. "Absolutely. Follow me." The first thing they searched for was 'Unicursal hexagram'. "Ok, so this is the shape, but I don't see any clover in the middle" Yumi complained. "Allow me, Yumi…it says here that this hexagram was used in occult practices and…oh look! Here it is!" The exact same figure drawn by Yumi was now on the computer screen. "Well, what is it?" Yumi wanted to know. "It says here that this is Aleister Crowley's rendition of the unicursal hexagram." "Who? Who's this Aleister Crowley?" "Let's see…according to this, he was a British occultist, writer and mystic." "And why should that concern us?" "I don't know yet, Yumi, let me find out." The pink-eyed girl started to search more about this new discovery, while Yumi decided to look around; she got back inside the lecture room. Wherever she stood here, she was surrounded by mountains of books. "Yumi, come quick, I found something!" Ami shouted. At this point, Yumi rushed to her friend's side, not because she wanted to find out what the pink-haired girl found, but rather because Ami was making to much noise and she was bothering the other people. "Ami, hush! You can't scream like that here, it's still a library, for crying…" "Yumi, look at this" Ami interrupted her "it seems that this Aleister Crowley is more connected to this story than we imagined." "Really? How come? Tell me!" Yumi became anxious to find out. "Listen to this; he supposedly wanted to perform an operation found in a book called 'The Book of the Sacred Magick of Abra-Melin the Mage'. In order to do that he first needed a special house. Yumi, remember that word you kept saying in your dream?" "Bull-skin? What about it?" "It says here that he found and bought a certain house in which he lived from 1899 to 1913. This house was called Boleskine." "WHAT?" In the immediate moment after her scream, Yumi covered her mouth, realizing that the people around were started to get annoyed by their presence. She looked at the article Ami found. There were excerpts from his books in which he was describing the need for that house:

'One must have a house where proper precautions against disturbance can be taken; this being arranged, there is really nothing to do but to aspire with increasing fervor and concentration, for six months, towards the obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel…The first essential is a house in a more or less secluded situation. There should be a door opening to the north from the room of which you make your oratory. Outside this door, you construct a terrace covered with fine river sand. This ends in a "lodge" where the spirits may congregate.'

"That's not all Yumi, look! It says here that from the early 1970s to well into the 1980s, Boleskine was owned by Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin's guitarist. The house was also known by the name of tool-house." "So that's the tool-shed. Ami, you solved the mystery, that's where we have to go. We return this photo tonight and tomorrow we'll be on our way. Where exactly is this house?" "Well, promise you won't freak out again, I don't think these people will be so forgiving the next time" she whispered. "Mister Aleister Crowley also spoke about certain "disturbances" and "unexpected visitors" in this house. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but the house is located…well…" "Well?" Yumi repeated. "It is located in Scotland, on the South-Eastern shore of Loch Ness."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve "The Bright Side Of The Earth"****  
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>The shining sun shed its light on Yumi's face, as she was staring at the ceiling. She just woke up, she was still in bed and she decided to sleep a little bit more. The instant she closed her eyes, however, she heard a very familiar voice. "Wake up, sleepy-head!" Her blue ocean-like eyes opened to see Ami through the opened window, blocking the sun. "Come on, Yumi, how long are you gonna sleep? Come on out." The location of Camp Youwannasushi was considerably closer to Osaka than to Tokyo, yet Yumi preferred to come to Japan's capital where she picked Ami up and the two eight year olds arrived in the camp together. Now, after only three days, Yumi was feeling happier than ever, although she didn't want to admit it.<p>

"Finally, Yumi, I was beginning to think you'd sleep the whole day through." "Not when you're around, Ami." Ami was on the porch of their cabin. She never could enjoy a beautiful day without being close to Yumi. "So, what's on out schedule today, Ami?" "Teach me how to play guitar some more, please Yumi, will you?" Yumi brought her guitar to camp. "Again? I thought we did that the whole day yesterday." "Please?" That did it; Yumi could agree to almost anything when Ami was all sweet like that. They returned to their special place, under the big oak tree. This is where they sat every time Yumi was teaching her friend to play guitar. The purple-haired girl began playing a rather simple, but pleasurable song, as Ami was lying down on the grass next to her, looking at a small river that ran close by. With no worries whatsoever, you can easily focus on the simple, but beautiful things in life, such as the birds flying above you, the sound of the leaves, a tree's shade protecting you from the sun, or even something as simple as the caress of a gentile wind. If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine how it is to fly, as the melody of the guitar is fading away more and more… "Ami! When you said 'teach me', I thought that you actually wanted to learn." "Sorry. I do want to learn." "Ok. Now, yesterday you learned the basic chords. Can you show me again?" Yumi asked as she handed her the guitar. "Can I? Watch this!" As Ami played all the major chords from A to G, Yumi couldn't but feel proud of how fast her student was learning. "Ok. You proved to me that you learned them. Good work! Now, let's move on to the minor chords." "Yumi, did you ever wish you could fly?" "What?" She was afraid of heights. "I dreamt last night that I was flying" Ami continued, "I was actually floating through the air. And I woke up in such a good mood." "You're always in a good mood" Yumi thought. "Pay attention, Ami. This chord is A minor." But Ami wasn't paying attention anymore. Instead, she jumped upwards and grabbed on to the nearest branch, starting to climb up the tree. "Come on, Yumi, join me. It's fun!" "Ami, get down from there, you're gonna get hurt." But she didn't listen. There was no way for her to get down, except if Yumi climbed up after her. "Alright, Ami, if you won't come down, I'm coming up to get you." That being said, Yumi put her guitar on the ground and followed the perky girl up the tree. "I caught you! There's no escape" she said as she had the pink-haired girl cornered up the tree. "Do you give up?" "Never!" Ami laughed as she quickly jumped on a lower branch and made her way down the tree, with Yumi close behind. "You're only making it harder upon yourself, Ami" the purple-haired girl laughed while chasing after her friend through the field of green. "You'll never get me alive!" Ami responded. But Yumi was faster and she caught up to Ami without much trouble. When the cherry-eyed girl saw that her friend was closing in on her, she threw herself on the grass, after which Yumi got on top of her and started tickling her victim. "Do you give up, now?" she asked. "Yes…I give up…I give up…you win…" Ami said through laughter. Both girls then lay down on the grass, next to each other, laughing with joy. After a while, all they could do was to stare at the endless blue above them. "Ami, did you ever wonder what it would have been like if the two of us haven't met?" "No, I didn't. Why?" "Oh, no reason, just wondering." At this point, Ami knew that something was troubling her friend. "Is there something wrong, Yumi?" "I don't know…" "You can tell me anything, I won't mind. Go ahead!" "Well, you see, I…how should I put it…when you stay in one place longer than you would like to, you kinda get bored. You wanna go to see foreign countries, new territories, you know?" "And where do you want to go?" "Well, I fear that if I told you, you would not accept to come along and we wouldn't see each other again." Ami smiled and said: "Yumi, you are my best friend and you'll always be, no matter what. So, no matter where you go, I will always follow you. Nobody can ever separate us, Yumi." The girl's blue ocean-like eyes sparkled as she heard these words. "So, you'll join me if I want to leave to America?" "Of course, Yumi. Anywhere you like" Ami smiled.

That evening, the girls watched the sunset together. "Yumi, isn't it the most beautiful sight ever?" "Whatever you say, Ami." "Can this be what heaven looks like?" "What?" "It might be possible that this is a little slice of heaven." Yumi smiled at Ami's theories. "We should get ready, Ami, tonight we're making the camp fire. We don't wanna be late." "You're right; almost forgot. Let's go." And so the two youngsters went back to the camp's main gathering place. Everybody around them was pretty excited. "How tall do you think it will be, Yumi?" "Let's just wait and see." The organizers had the logs ready. They scattered gasoline on the logs and all around the fire place, in a form that seemed like a spiral. Then, one of them thrown a burning match and the spiral lit up, after a few second finally giving birth to the biggest fire the girls have ever seen. Everybody screamed with joy when the fire started. As it burned and burned, all the campers started to sing songs, camp songs, or just any other songs that came to mind. After a while everyone was laughing and gazing at this ball of fire, burning away in the night. The girls held hands while the fire burned in front of them. They just couldn't let go.

"Wasn't it incredible, Yumi? I had the time of my life." "So did I, Ami." "Should we now return to our cabin?" "I don't know; it's not cold tonight. Why don't we stay a little bit longer?" "And can we look for falling stars?" "Yes, if you want to" Yumi replied. The girls remained lying on the grass, waiting for the last small pieces of wood to burn out. "So, Yumi, why America?" Ami suddenly asked. "Why? I guess that it would be the perfect place for me. I already know to play guitar, so I guess I could go there and start a rock band. No, better yet, become a successful solo guitarist." "If I come with you, can I be in your band too?" "Yes, but you have to learn guitar." "Well, Yumi, I got you to teach me." "You sure do, Ami, you sure do." "Look, a falling star!" Ami suddenly pointed out at the dark sky filled with sparkles. "Well, Ami, you saw it, go ahead and make a wish." "Ok; I wish…" "No, don't tell me, otherwise it won't come true. It has to be a secret." And so, Ami closed her eyes and wished for the first thing she could think of; she wished for Yumi and herself to reach America and become a famous rock band. "Did you make your wish, Ami?" "I sure did." "Remember, If you believe really hard, it will come true." That night, the two girls stood there, on the grass, gazing at the sky, until Yumi saw her friend falling asleep beside her, with her head on Yumi's lap. Then she got up and carried the pink-haired girl all the way back to their room and put her in her bed, gently removing her shoes and carefully wrapping her with the cover, so as not to wake her up.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen "All Alone Blues"****  
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>"I know who you are! You're the man from that studio in London, aren't you? The only one who knew about Led Zeppelin…" "Who I am isn't important right now" the old man said, "what is important is that somebody's missing. Now, what was taken?" "A picture; we took a photo from…no! I took a photo. I took one of the photos on the wall, inside the house" she said with tears in her eyes; "I took a photo without permission and now my best friend is gone because of it." "She's not gone; it takes three days for her to die." "BUT I DON'T WANT HER TO DIE!" Yumi burst into tears. "Well then, shut up for a minute and listen. I can guess what photo you were talking about back there. And, as you can see, you got it really furious…" "Stop talking about it" Yumi said crying. "What was that thing anyway? I was running through the forest and the whole time I felt like…exactly like I did in my nightmare…" "What nightmare? Did you dream about this?" "I…I don't…know…" the girl said, confused. "I remember the dark forest and Ami begging me to take her home and…it. But Ami said I had a second one, as well…" "What is your name, girl?" the man finally asked, lowering his voice. "Yumi…" "Yumi, listen to me; what you saw in your second nightmare could be the answer you're looking for; it might very well be the only way we can bring your Ami back. Do you remember what it was? Take your time now, and think…" "I…I…no. I don't. All I know is what Ami told me; that, in my sleep, I was saying the word Boleskine…" "Boleskine! So you know about Boleskine? Well, then why are you still here?" "I…I…don't…" Yumi said through tears. "Listen. You have to go there, do you hear me? You have to go there and I mean right away! There will be plenty of time for tears later. Right now, we got a girl to save." "But how? How do…how do we save her?" she asked, still crying. "Didn't you listen to the song? It's all there." "The message? But…" "No, not the bloody message; the song. Listen to what it says. I'm not talking about the hidden message. There is a key in the song. It will explain everything." "But I can't listen to it anymore." "You have your notebook don't you?" the man replied. 'Smart thinking, Yumi.' 'You gave me the idea though. It was you who said that we should write it down, wasn't it?' The whole thing came back to her in an instant. "It was Ami's idea to write down the lyrics." "Well, she's a smart girl, I'll give her that. You, on the other hand, stole something that didn't belong to you. Not very smart…" "But I returned it." "Well, as you can see, it didn't care. And now, we must save Ami before…" "But, how will we save her?" the girl interrupted him, with her eyes still wet. "You'll find out when you get there" the man replied. She finally looked upwards; the moon was bright now, so bright that the girl could see the entire field until the forest. The fact that the man was gone didn't even bother her one bit, for she knew what she had to do.<p>

That night, in a hotel room back in Bangor, the girl slept only as much as she needed to. When the first sunrays entered the room, she was already dressed and opening her notebook. She wanted to analyze the song's lyrics, this time concentrating on everything but the hidden message. The old man told her that the key is in the proper song, so that's where she had to look. She read the lyrics twice before she started analyzing them. "If only Ami was here to help me…wait a minute; I think she already did. What did she say about the song?" the girl tried to remember. "She was referring to this lady…that she is not important." She decided to start with the verses that held the secret message. 'If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now, it's just a spring clean for the May Queen.' This was the first time the girl realized that the verse made absolutely no sense. Not in any of the obvious senses, anyway. Not being able to figure this out on her own, she returned to the universities Internet room. The first thing she searched for was "May Queen". She found out that it was a mythical figure also known as The Maiden, the goddess of spring, flower bride and the lady of the flowers. She found out about the festival with the same name, in which a teenage girl is selected to lead the parade for May Day celebrations. She wears a white gown and a crown made of flowers. Noting everything down in her notebook, she returned to the lyrics. 'Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know, the piper's calling you to join him.' She now had two new characters in the song: the May Queen and the piper.

As she went further on, all she could think of was the old man's words 'It takes three days for her to die.' And every time she heard those words in her head, she could feel an icy cold shiver down her spine. What will she do without Ami? "If only I'd listened to her; she told me not to steal the picture. And I yelled at her" she thought, as a fresh set of tears came down from her eyes. "No! Snap out of it, Yumi. You can save her and you will; you just have to try harder" she thought, as she continued with the song. She decided to look one more time at the verses with the two characters. 'Practically, this is where the song really begins' she remembered herself saying. "But if that is right, the verses until the secret message are not important; they are just the introduction. And if the lady appears in the last verses as well, then those aren't important either, according to Ami. But, this only leaves these two middle groups of verses, the one containing the message and the next one…" Only then it occurred to her: "Wait a minute; this IS actually where the song begins. And this is the only message in it, the fact that there are two paths. The first group of verses holds the backwards message talking about Satan; therefore it symbolizes hell, ending with the idea of changing the road you're on, so as not to end up there. This must mean that the second group of verses symbolizes heaven. Now, we got these two characters, the May Queen and the piper. The first one must be the evil one, because she is mentioned in the first group. That makes the piper the symbol for heaven. But then, that means that Ami was right: the 'dear lady' here is not the first lady at all, it's the May Queen. 'Dear lady can't you hear the wind blow and did you know your stairway lies on the whispering wind.' Stairway to what? STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN! Of course! In order for her to get to heaven, she must hear the whispers. She must hear the verses that contain the backwards message. Only in this way can she be saved. 'The piper's calling you to join him', of course! The piper has to be the one who reads the verses. I've got to find him…" "I knew you would figure it out." Yumi turned around. The old man was looking at what she wrote so far. "Am I glad to see you! This is what I managed to find out so far…" "And the only thing that was to be found. Good work!" the man replied. "So now we must find this piper?" Yumi asked. "No. What you must do is go to Boleskine as fast as you can. Ami doesn't have much time left." She ran outside the building, got on her motorcycle and rode off in a cloud of smoke. She had a place to get to and her friend's life was counting on that; nothing else was important. "Wait a bit more, Ami; I'm on my way."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen "Tomorrow Is Just A Dream Away"****  
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>The sun was about to set when Yumi reached the town Fort Augustus. From here, she only had about three more miles until Boleskine. She could already see the lake, the famous Loch Ness. "I'm almost there, Ami…" she said, even though she knew that no one could hear her. Just then, she spotted the beautiful sunset over the quiet lake. "How she loved these sunsets. I promise you, Ami, we will see another sunset together, I promise with all my heart…" The light at the horizon was beautifully bright, with the kind of red that only stories can describe. Though her motorcycle helmet, the girl was witnessing the most superb view that Scotland has ever seen. Yet, it just didn't seem right without Ami.<p>

She could see the house of Boleskine from a fair amount of distance away. The headlights of the motorcycle helped the girl see it better. It looked like a simple house, although she could sense a strange presence all around it. She didn't get scared one bit, not when her friend's life was at stake. The house had something like a fence of small mountains covered in pine forests directly behind it, while in front of it Loch Ness was shining in its entire splendor, the moonlight creating a spectacular dualism. She parked her motorcycle behind the house. She spotted Ami's motorcycle costume and helmet lying on the ground. "Don't worry, Ami, I'm here now. I just need to find you." Suddenly, a hand touched her shoulder. "So, you finally came" the old man said. "It's you" she exclaimed. She immediately lowered her voice. She didn't even know why, but something told her that this was not the proper place to shout. "When did you arrive?" she whispered. "Not a moment before" the man whispered back. "Seems like everything is quiet for the moment" he continued, "let's go to the shore. And don't make to mush sound." Yumi didn't have time to question him; the two quickly got to the front of the house and down by the shore. Night did not really begin, as the sky was still a tad bright to the west. But it certainly was dark. The two were facing the lake now. "What now?" Yumi asked. "Now, we wait. And relax, it didn't start yet." "What didn't…forget it, I don't want to know" the girl said, as she sat down on the grass looking at the stars. The old man sat next to her. "So, I can guess that you two were very close, right?" "Did you ever meet a person and, from the first moment, felt like you were born to meet him or her? That's what I first felt when I saw Ami. We met for the first time in Tokyo and, since then, we have been close to each other every single day. She is my best friend and I'm not about to let her go." Just then, Yumi heard something. Apparently, the man heard it too, as he backed up a little and ducked behind some bushes, whispering to the girl to do the same. The two didn't notice, but, by now, the night was shedding its darkness all around. The moon was still as bright as ever, though. "What is that?" Yumi whispered pointing to a strange little light, in the middle and directly above the lake. "I don't know, but it looks like it's coming this way." Indeed, the strange little light was slowly making its way towards the shore. It was still to far away for any of the two to make out what it was. "What do you think will happen?" Yumi quietly asked. "Are you afraid?" the man asked back. Yumi however shook her head being determined not to let her friend fade away. "No, I am not. And I do not care what obstacle I must pass, nothing is going to take Ami away from me." "Good girl" the man replied "that's the spirit. Never let your friends go. They are the most valued treasure that you will have. Never let them go" he repeated. The light was almost there. Yumi could almost make out the shape of… "AMI!" The purple-haired girl jumped from the bushes and reached the end of the shore in no time, with the man close behind her. "Ami! Can you hear me? What's wrong with her?" she turned to the old man. Ami's eyes were closed and she was floating all by herself. She looked like she was in a trance. Around her there was a shiny aura which glowed making her seem kike an angel. She was dressed in a white gown and on her head she had a crown of flowers. "I don't understand; why is she dressed like that?" the man wondered. "The May Queen" Yumi gasped "AMI, WAKE UP, WAKE UP" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Why won't she wake up?" she asked the old man with tears in her eyes. "Because that's not how she'll wake up" the man replied; he was looking worried as well. "But she can't be…" suddenly Yumi was silenced by a strange phenomenon: the moon was visibly sending its rays towards Ami, who was now slowly moving from above the lake to the top of the house. With her eyes still closed and her aura still glowing, she reached her final destination, the house of Boleskine. In an instant the whole house lit up and formed something like a pyramid of light; Ami was positioned at the top of the pyramid and the light was continued by the moon rays, which seemed bounded to the girl at this point. "I finally understood what's going on" the man said. "Yumi, listen to me!" But the girl was helplessly watching with tears in her eyes as her best friend was now facing the lake. "Where is the piper?" she cried "He must save her; where is he?" "Listen to me, Yumi; I bought this house a while ago. I bought it because it is the Thelemic Kiblah, like a Mecca of Thelema; I wanted to perform rituals…" noticing the strange look that Yumi gave him, he stopped. "You …bought this house…to perform rituals. I…I…don't believe it…you…you are Aleister Crowley?" "My dear, yes I am." Yumi fell on her knees. "But…you died." "I did" He confirmed. Yumi was both confused and scared. "We don't have time for this; I came to save your best friend, I came to save Ami. Yes, I am a ghost. But will you accept my help?" The girl didn't know what to answer. Aleister held his arm so Yumi could reach it. "Will you?" he almost begged. A smile on Yumi's face and a friendly grab of his arm were more than enough for an answer. "Yes, I will accept it" she said as she got up.

Just then, a loud sound, like a crash, shook the ground and from the waters of Loch Ness appeared a monster of immense proportions. Its sound was by far the loudest Yumi ever heard. "Yumi, this is what I was trying to explain" the man shouted "the monster is receiving its power from the May Queen, thus consuming your friend. The house is filled with energy and works like a battery. But it is powered by the moonlight, as you can see. Your friend is stuck in the middle being both a gateway and a victim. If this operation succeeds, this monster will receive all her energy by sunrise and, after that, she dies in three days." "Over my dead body" Yumi furiously shouted. The monster was visibly more and more powerful. In an instant, he saw the two intruders. "Yumi, he spotted us!" It reached for the two. "Watch out!" Yumi screamed. But, with a great shout, Aleister started saying a strange exorcism spell in a foreign language, something Yumi never heard before. However, this spell created an aura of protection around the two. It seemed to hurt the beast, which retrieved its giant arm. Yumi didn't hesitate for a second. "You? You're the piper?" A smile from Aleister towards her answered her question. With a flick of the wrist, the aura around them was gone; it was time for the two to attack. Aleister started saying another spell, which sent arrows of light, practically from nowhere, towards the beast. "What about Ami? How will we save her?" "Not we, my dear, you!" Aleister shouted back. "But you're the piper; you must save the May Queen! You must!" The monster was trying to regain its powers. Aleister got down on his knees, facing the girl. "My dear, I am not the piper. I'm just the help you need." "But where's the piper." Aleister didn't even have to speak. "Me? I am the…" "That's right, Yumi. It was you who had the dreams, you who found the secret message, you who understood the song's meaning. Now you just have to finish the job. Go ahead; call the May Queen to join you." "But, that means I must read the message out loud, which will kill the May Queen." "We all must die to go to heaven" Aleister said. "NO!" Yumi got down on the ground. "I won't kill her!" she shouted while tears were streaming down her cheeks. "AMI! WAKE UP! I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU! AMI!" "Listen to me, Yumi, we don't have time. If the operation comes to a close, she's dead anyway." "I won't kill her!" "No, you won't kill her. You will just kill the May Queen, thus setting her free. There is still hope left for Ami. There is still a chance that the monster didn't get her spirit. There is still a chance, but only if you finish what you must do. So quit wasting time and read the bloody message already." Aleister restarted to enchant the attacking spells, as the monster had regained its powers. "Hurry!" he shouted.

With her eyes still wet and her hands shaking she got out her notebook and started reading: "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow…"; the monster was clearly shouting in pain when she started reading; "…don't be alarmed now…" "Keep going" Aleister shouted. "…it's just a spring clean for the May Queen." The beast was desperately trying to attack with all its might, but it was no match for Aleister. "Yes, there are two paths…" Yumi stopped to look at Ami one more time. "You're almost there!" Aleister screamed. The monster was weakened. "…you can go by…" Yumi closed her eyes. She wanted to remember Ami as she always was, lively and full of joy. She remembered all the feelings of happiness she got when she was next to her best friend; and also the thought that she will always be beside her no matter what. For all the promises they made at Camp Youwannasushi "…but in the long run…" for all those nights with falling stars "…there's still time…" for the girl who's hand she held so tightly in front of the camp fire "…to change…" for that special night in the park looking at the fireworks "…the road…" and, most importantly, for all the times she looked in Ami's eyes and saw the love that she was given, the love that she could not live without "…YOU'RE ON!" In a terrific shout, the monster was drowning and the moon ceased to send its rays towards the girl. "AMI!" Yumi shouted as the pyramid was dimming more and more and the pink-haired girl was floating back on the ground. "We did it, Ami, we did it" Yumi screamed, rushing at the girl's side. Aleister was fading away in the night, but managed to catch a glimpse of the two girls who were now reunited. His job was done. "Come on, Ami, you're safe now" she said while kneeling next to her friend, holding the girl in her arms. But her cherry eyes didn't open. "Ami, I know you can hear me. Wake up, open your eyes. Please…" the girl was lying without movement in Yumi's arms. "Please, Ami, come back to life" Yumi said, as soft tears fell on Ami's white gown. "We're reunited now, nobody can do you harm now. Please, Ami, open your eyes. Open your…oh, Ami" Yumi started crying, holding the motionless body of her friend. "Please wake up. You promised! You promised that we are going to be best friends forever! Promises should not be broken" the poor girl said through tears "promises must always be kept!" She closed her teary eyes and kissed Ami's forehead. "I can't go on without you" she whispered "I love you!" "Yumi…" a soft frail voice answered. The purple-haired girl opened her eyes and finally saw her friend's half-opened cherry eyes, in which the moon was reflecting its light. But Yumi's tears wouldn't stop. "Ami…oh Ami" she managed to say as she started crying.

"So what happened to Aleister?" the pink-haired girl finally asked while lying on her bed. "Well, all I can assume is that he disappeared." "Well, wherever he is, I hope that he can hear me. Thank you, Aleister for helping Yumi out." The two rented a hotel room in the city of Inverness, the closest city they could get to. In the morning, they were to ride to Glasgow where they would leave their motorcycle and suites and finally fly home, business class of course. "But, tell me, Yumi, if Aleister died in 1947, how did he manage transmit the secret message through the song, twenty four years later?" Yumi smiled and looked out the window; "I guess that's for him to know and us never to find out" she replied "Jimmy Page rented his house. That's all I know…" "By the way, Yumi, I heard a great deal of what you said to me in front of Boleskine" the girl said with a perky smile, "I also know that you cried for me; and that you said you love me. Say it again." "Well…you know…" she tried to find her words, while still looking out the window and smiling. "Please, Yumi?" "I think that it was enough for one night." "Agreed. And thank you, Yumi, for saving my life" Ami said and kissed her friends on the cheek.

Yumi was done brushing her teeth. She looked in the mirror. And what did she see? She saw herself, probably the luckiest girl in the universe. And she was proud of herself. When she got back to bed, she found Ami asleep. Yumi lied on the bed next to her. She took one more look at her beautiful friend, put her head next to Ami's and closed her eyes. "Sleep now, Ami. And yes, I do love you; forever and ever, until the end." Two friends, sleeping in each other's arms: is there a clearer definition of true love? Probably not! And probably the whole universe exists because true love. Who knows? Right now, somewhere in the world, two girls regain their energy for a brand new day with new opportunities. And outside, the setting moon brings the end to a night of mystery.

THE END

- - -

"Ami, I need to ask you something." "What is it?" "If I were to remain here for a while, would you miss me?" "What do you mean?" "If I don't get on the plane with you and stay here, would you miss me?" the girl asked again. "Yumi, what's wrong? Are you feeling alright?" "Yeah, but nevermind. Let's just get out of here. Can't you see we're not in the story anymore?"


End file.
